读故事

　　A man who suffered from poverty prayed to God everyday. In his prayers he said, “Powerful Lord, please give me a farm, a house, a wife and 800 dollars; cash would be preferable"He thought he needed to be precise about what he wanted; otherwise God might give him the wrong thing.Although 500 dollars would be enough for him, he took the precaution and asked for more, in case God would drive a hard bargain.His precision worked, and he got practically all he asked for, except for the cash of course, which he didn't predict.However, he didn't complain, fearing it might destroy his potential luck, because he knew God had far more potential than his preceding offer.Soon his wife became pregnant.Five years later he was the father of six daughters—luckily, he had no preference for boys.But his good days also ended; he got up very early every day and worked very hard on his farm, milled the powder, fed the pigs, etc., and had to take care of his house, his wife and his kids.He remembered reading this in the preface to a book, “Never bite off more than you can chew.” and wished he had only asked for the cash.

　　记单词

　　potential 潜在的，可能的

　　n 潜力，潜能

　　poverty 贫穷，贫困

　　powder 粉，粉末

　　powerful 1.强大的，有力的，有权的2.强壮的，强健的

　　practically 1.几乎，简直2.实际上

　　pray 1.祈祷，祈求2.请求，恳求

　　prayer 1.祷告，祈祷2.祷文，祷词3.祈求，祈望

　　precaution 预防，预备，警惕

　　preceding 在先的，在前的，前面的

　　precise 1.精确的，准确的

　　2.严谨的

　　precision 精确(性)，精密(度)

　　predict 预言，预测，预告

　　preface 序言，引言，前言

　　preferable 更可取的，更好的，更合意的

　　preference 1.喜爱，偏爱，优先(权)2.偏爱的事物(或人)

　　pregnant 怀孕的，妊娠的

　　一个在贫困中受煎熬的人每天都向上帝祈祷，他在祷告中说：“强大的主啊，请赐给我一个农场、一栋房子、一个老婆和800元钱吧，如果是现金就更好了。”他觉得他得精确地表明他想要的东西，否则上帝可能会给错了东西。虽然500元对他来说已经足够了，但他还是作了预防多要了点，因为上帝说不定会狠狠地跟他杀价。他的精确起了作用，他几乎得到了他所要的一切，当然现金除外，这一点他没有预料到。不过，他并没有抱怨，惟恐会毁了他可能有的运气，因为他知道上帝的潜力远不止前面的所赐。不久他妻子就怀孕了。五年之后他成了六个女儿的父亲——好在他对男孩并不偏爱。可他的好日子也到了头：他每天很早就起床，累死累活地在农场干活，磨粉啦，喂猪啦，等等，还得照看房子、妻子和孩子。他记起来在一本书的前言里看到过这么一句话：“贪多嚼不烂。”他真希望当初只要了现金。

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