阅读理解

　　Bobby was getting cold．Try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother’s Christmas gift．“This is useless, even if I do have an idea, I don’t have money to spend．”

　　Since his father had passed away, the family had struggled．But what the family lacked in money and material things, they made up for in love．

　　Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby started to walk from shop to shop, looking into each decorated window．Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach．

　　It was starting to get dark when he suddenly discovered a dime(十分钱)lying on the ground．Never before had anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment．

　　He walked into the first store but his excitement quickly turned cold when he was told nothing could be bought with only a dime．He then went into a flower shop．Hearing Bobby’s words and looking at the dime, the shop owner said, “You just wait here and I’ll see what I can do for you．”

　　Bobby waited until the last customer left．The shop owner moved to the counter saying “I happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen．Would you like them, young man?” Could this be true? When the man placed roses into his hands, he knew it was true．Walking out gratefully, Bobby heard the shop keeper say, “Merry Christmas, son．”

　　Staring out of the window, tears in eyes, the shop keeper explained to his wife, “A strange thing happened to me this morning．While I was to open the shop, I heard a voice telling me to set aside a dozen of my best roses for a special gift．I wasn’t sure at the time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway．Then when the little boy came in, I saw myself many years ago who was a poor boy with nothing to buy mother a Christmas gift．A man I never knew stopped me on the street and gave me ten dollars．Then I knew who that voice was．

　　The shop owner and his wife hugged each other tightly, and as they stepped out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn’t feel cold at all．

阅读理解

　　For years I wanted a flower garden．I'd spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together．

　　But then we had Matthew．And Marvin．And the twins, Alisa and Alan．And then Helen．Five children．I was too busy raising them to grow a garden．

　　Money was tight, as well as time．Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I'd have to say,“Do you see a money tree outside?Money doesn't grow on trees, you know．”

　　Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own．I started thinking again about having a garden．

　　I wasn't sure, though．I mean, gardens do cost money．Then, one spring morning, on Mother's Day, I was working in my kitchen when suddenly I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard．I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches．Then I put my glasses on and I couldn't believe what I saw．There was a money tree in my yard!

　　I went outside to look．It was true!There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree．Think of all the garden flowers I could buy with one hundred dollars!There was also a note attached：“IOU eight hours of digging time．Love, Marvin．”

　　Marvin kept his promise, too．He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen foot bed(花坛)for me．And my other children bought me gardening tools and books．

　　That was three years ago．My garden's now very pretty, just like I wanted．When I go out and weed or tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did．It feels like they're right there with me．

　　I live up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where winters are long and cold, and summers are too short．But every year now, when winter sets in, I look out my window and think of the flowers I'll see next spring in my little garden．I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes－every time．

　　I'm still not sure that money grows on trees．But I know love does!