学进去

There was a man who was going through hard times. He went bankrupt(破产) in business. Although he worked hard, failure was all that he had seen. After he tried again and again, he left everything behind and went into a ______. In the forest, he met an old man who had lived there for a long time. He ______ his story with the old man. “Can you give me one good reason not to ______?” He asked the old man.

“Look,” the old man said, pointing to two ______. “Do you see that fern(蕨类植物) and bamboo there?”

“Yes,” the man answered.

“When I planted the fern and bamboo seeds(种子), I took very good care of ______. Within a short period of time, the fern ______ grew from the earth,” the old man went on.

“I watered and took care of the bamboo seed for years, ______ it didn’t sprout(发芽). There was no sign of growth. But I did not give up and went on ______ it. In the fifth year, a small sprout came out. And within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall.”

“The little bamboo tree had been growing underground for the past ______ years, in the fifth year and beyond, it developed a root system(根系) strong enough for its ground growth. If it hadn’t done this, it would not be as strong as it is now. So you know, all the time you were trying, you were actually growing ______ roots,” the old man said.