The miracle of the marigold 金盏花的奇迹

温从秀

1 One year， a newspaper published an announcement that a horticultural （园艺的） institute offered a reward for the pure white marigold （金盏花）. The high reward attracted so many people， but it is not easy to grow marigold. So after they were excited for a time， many people had forgotten the announcement.

2 Years flew away. One normal day after 20 years， the horticultural institute that had published the announcement accidentally received a letter and 100 seeds of pure white marigold. On that day， the news spread like wildfire.

3 It turned out to be an old woman of over 70 years old. The institute had always been hesitating over the fact that the letter said with certainty that the seeds could bloom pure white marigold， and the need for verification （验证） became the focus of the debate. Whether they would make an experimental verification or not became the controversial focus at one time. Accordingly， the old woman who was always unknown to the public became a new focus.

4 Originally， the old woman was a flower lover. When she occasionally read the announcement in the newspaper 20 years ago， she was eager to try. But her eight children strongly opposed her decision. After all， a woman who never knew the seed genetics （遗传学） couldn't complete what the experts could never achieve， so her thought seemed very foolish.

5 Still， the old woman didn't change her mind and went on working without hesitation. She planted some of the most common seeds and took good care of them. A year later， when the marigold came out， she chose the faintest one from those golden and brown flowers and got the best seed. The next year， she again grew them and chose... Day after day， year after year， through many seasons， the old woman's husband died， her children flew far， but only the wish to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart.

6 Finally， after 20 years on the day we all know， in the garden she saw a pure white marigold， which was as white as silver or snow. A problem even scientists couldn't deal with was solved by an old woman who didn't understand genetics. Was it magic？ If your dream takes root in the heart， even the most common seed can grow into a miracle！

Reading  Check

Fill in the table with only one word for each blank.

Language  Study

Useful expressions for creating a continuation task

attract so many people 吸引了如此多的人

be excited for a time 激動了一阵子

forget the announcement 忘记了公告

Years flew away. 岁月飞逝。

On that day， the news spread like wildfire. 那一天，这个消息像野火一样蔓延开来。

hesitate over 对……犹豫

say with certainty 确信地说

be eager to try 渴望尝试

strongly oppose her decision 强烈反对她的决定

change one's mind 改变主意

go on working without hesitation 毫不犹豫地继续做

take good care of 悉心照看

as white as silver or snow 像银或雪一样白

If your dream takes root in the heart， even the most common seed can grow into a miracle！ 如果你的梦想在心中扎根，即使是最常见的种子，也能变成奇迹！