初中英语课外阅读：
（一）农夫和苹果树
A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apple he grew.
One day, his friend gave the farmer a young apple tree and told him to take it home and plant it.
The farmer was pleased with the gift, but when he got home he did not know where to plant it.
He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers would steal the fruit. If he planted the tree in one of his field, his neighbors would come at night and steal some of the apples. If he planted the tree near his house, his children would take the fruit.
Finally he planted the tree in his wood where no one could see it. But without sunlight and good soil, the tree soon died.
Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a poor place."What's the difference?" the farmer said angrily. "If I had planted the tree near the road, strangers would have stolen the fruit. If I had planted the tree in one of my field, my neighbors would have come at night and stolen some of the apples. If I had planted it near my house, my own children would have taken the fruit."
"Yes," said the friend, "but at least someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now you not only have robbed everyone of the fruit, but also you have destroyed a good apple tree!"
（二）阅读理解趣味故事题
Several years ago, a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.
The reporter was talking to them about being important.
“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.
The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the P resident of the United States is really important.”
The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.
The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d o nly be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it.”The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”
“No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”
“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the Pr esident and the phone rang, and
