One day, I awoke early, as I
often do, just before sunrise, to walk by the ocean’s edge and greet the new
day. As I moved through the misty dawn, I focused on a faint, far away motion.
I saw a young girl, bending and reaching and flailing her arms, dancing on the
beach, no doubt to celebrate the perfect day soon to begin.
As I approached, I sadly realized
that the girl was not dancing on the bay, but rather bending to sift through
the debris left by the night’s tide. She picked up a starfish and then stood,
only to heave it back into the sea. I asked the girl the purpose of the effort.
She said, “The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot
return to the sea by themselves.” She added, “When the sun rises, they will
die, unless I throw them back to the sea.”
As the girl explained, I surveyed
the vast expanse of beach, stretching in both directions beyond my sight.
Starfish littered the shore in numbers beyond calculation. The hopelessness of
the girl’s plan became clear to me and I countered, “But there are more
starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you
cannot expect to make a difference.”
The youth paused briefly to
consider my words, bent to pick up a starfish and threw it as far as possible.
Turning to me she simply said, “I made a difference with that one.”
I left the girl and went home,
deep in thought of what the girl had said. I returned to the beach and spent
the rest of the day helping the girl throw starfish in to the sea.
Adopted from:
http://www.rogerknapp.com/inspire/starfish.htm (March 12, 2012)
1. Where did the story take place?
A. In a
hillside.
B. At a
river bank.
C. At the
seashore.
D. In a
forest.
E. In a
lake.
2. When did
the story happen?
A. Very early in the morning.
B. At noon when the sun shone brightly.
C. In the afternoon before the sunset.
D. In the evening.
E. In the middle of the night.
3. What did
the girl pick up and throw?
A. Fish. B. Frogs.
C. Turtles. D. Starfish.
E. Octopus.
4. What would happen to the things
if the sun fully rose?
A. They would grow fast.
B. They would be withered.
C. They would shrink.
D. They would not be fresh.
E. They would die.
5. What moral value can you get
from the story?
A. We should forgive others’ mistakes.
B. We should care for others, no matter how small our action is.
C. Those who like to help others will take advantage in the future.
D. We cannot count on someone else to help us achieve our goals.
E. We should be brave in facing any situations for better or for
worse
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