3．Who Was the First Man？
A teacher said to her class： “Who was the first man？”
“George Washington，”a little boy shouted promptly．
“How do you make out that George Washington was the first man？”asked the teacher，smiling indulgently．
“Because，”said the little boy，“he was first in war，first in peace，and first in the hearts of his countrymen．”
But at this point a larger boy held up his hand．
“Well，” said the teacher to him，“who do you think was the first man？”
“I don’t know what his name was，”said the larger boy，“but I know it wasn’t George Washington，ma’am，because the history book says George Washington married a widow，so，of course，there must have been a man ahead of him．”
中文译：
谁是第一个男人？
有个老师问班上的学生：“谁是第一个男人？” “乔治·华盛顿，”一个小男孩当即叫道。 “你怎么知道乔治·华盛顿是第一个男人呢？”老师问道，宽容地微笑着。 小男孩说：“因为他是战时第一，和平时第一，国人心中第一。” 这时一个大点儿的男孩举起手来。
“那么，”老师对他说，“你认为谁是第一个男人呢？” “我不知道他的名字，”大点儿的男孩说，“但我知道不是乔治·华盛顿，老师。因为历史书上说，乔治·华盛顿娶了一个寡妇，所以在他前面肯定还有一个男人。”
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4.上帝为你关了这扇门，必会为你再开另一扇门
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for god to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. "God! how could you do this to me!" he cried. Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him.
"how did you know i was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "we saw your smoke signal," they replied.
It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn’t lose heart, because god is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of god. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, god has a positive answer for it.
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