One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, “Look! There’s a horseshoe, pick it up and put it in your bag.” Thomas said, “It isn’t worth the trouble.” His father said nothing but he picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the few pennies he bought some cherries(櫻桃).
The father and the son continued their way. The sun was well up in the sky, and there wasn’t a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on. At this time, his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son lost no time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth.
And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up. When Thomas had eaten up all the cherries, his father said to him, “My dear son, if you had bent(彎腰) down early to pick up that horseshoe, it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries. Always remember the lesson that he who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things.”
【小題1】Who picked up the horseshoe at last?

An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money.

When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother，“Only a miracle （奇跡）can save him now，”the little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully.

She hurried to a drugstore（藥店）with the money in her hand. “And what do you want？” asked the salesman. “It’s for my little brother，” the girl answered. “He’s really，really sick and I want to buy a miracle.” “Pardon？” said the salesman. “My brother Andrew has something bad growing in-side his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost？” “We don’t sell a miracle here，child. I’m sorry，”the salesman said with a smile.

“Listen，if it isn’t enough，I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs.”

A well-dressed man heard it and asked，“What kind of a miracle does your brother need？”

“I don’t know，”she answered with her eyes full of tears(眼淚). “He’s really sick and mum says he needs an operation. But my daddy can’t pay for it，so I have brought all my money.” “How much do you have？” asked the man. “$ 1.11，but I can try and get some more，” she answered.

“Well，what luck，”smiled the man. “$ 1.11，the price of a miracle for little brothers.”

He took up the girl’s hand and said， “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”

That well-dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong，a famous doctor. The operation was successful and it wasn’t long before Andrew was home again.

How much did the miracle cost？

1.In the eye of the little girl，a miracle might be ______________.

A．something interesting                    B．something beautiful

C．some wonderful medicine                 D．some good food

2.What made the miracle happen？

A．The girl’s love for her brother.            B．The girl’s money.

C．The medicine from the drugstore.           D．Nobody can tell.

3.From the passage we can infer （推斷）that _______________.

A．the doctor didn’t ask for any pay

B．a(chǎn) miracle is sure to happen if you keep on

C．the little girl is lovely but not so generous

D．Andrew was in fact not so sick as they had thought