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When my daughter was in grade school one day she brought home 4 tiny twigs. 我女儿读小学的时候，有天放学回家，她带回了4只细细的小树枝 They were trees given to the students by the school to plant. 这些树枝是学校发给学生们的，让他们带回家种植 None of them looked very hardy 他们看上去都有些弱不禁风 but with a hope for the future 不过我还是心存着一丝希望 I got a spade and planted them in our backyard. 就拿来铁铲，把它们种到了后院里 Over the years an accident with the lawnmower and poor soil brought an end to three of them. 数年时间过去，一起与割草机有关的意外事件，加上贫瘠的土壤，让4棵小树中的3棵都不幸夭折了 All that was left was a single evergreen . 唯一幸存下来的是一株常青藤 It grew crooked and very slowly. 它长得歪歪扭扭，长势也十分迟缓 It never got very tall and tilted to one side. 它从未长到很高的高度，还总是歪向一边 In the end it looked more like a fat bush than a tree. 到最后，它看上去更像是一丛肥大的灌木，而非一棵树 I noticed a few years ago too that it was starting to die. 数年前我就注意到，它已经开始衰老 | 
