The Bundle of Sticks

團結(jié)力量大

An old farmer had two sons who fought with each other all the time. The old farmer often told them to stop fighting， but they never listened to him.

So one day， he asked his sons to bring him a bundle of sticks. “Can you break these sticks in half?” he asked his youngest son.

“Of course，” said his youngest son. “Those sticks are thin. I can break them like straw!” He took the sticks from his father， but no matter how hard he tried， he couldn’t break them.

“Of course he failed，” said the other son. “He is young and weak. I will succeed because I am oldest and the strongest.”

The oldest son then took the sticks， but he couldn’t break them， either.

Then the father took out two sticks from the bundle and handed one to his sons. “Can you break them now?” he asked. And of course they could.

“You can learn an important lesson from these sticks，” the farmer said to his sons. “Together， you are strong， but when you are alone， you can be broken easily.”

Vocabulary

1.fight v. 爭吵

2.bundle n. 捆;包(裹)

3.thin adj. 薄的;瘦的

4.straw n. 稻草

5.fail v.失敗

6.succeed v.成功

7.strong adj.強壯的

8.lesson n.課程;教訓(xùn)

英語補給站

Language Notes

no matter 的用法

解析：

no matter 表示“不管，無論”的意思，常接 wh-疑問詞以后再加子句，

Please call me， no matter what time you get home.

不管你什么時候到家，請打個電話給我

No matter where she looked， Nicole couldn’t find her keys.

無論尼克往哪兒找，都找不到她的鑰匙。