There's a guy who has been lost and walking in the desert for about 2 weeks。One day，he sees the home of a missionary。Tired and weak，he crawls up to the house and collapses on the doorstep。The missionary finds him and nurses him back to health。Feeling better，the man asks the missionary for directions to the nearest town。On his way to the backdoor，he sees this horse。He goes back into the house and asks the missionary，“Could I borrow your horse and give it back when I reach the town？”
The missionary says，“Sure but there is a special thing about this horse。You have to say‘Thank God’to make it go andAmen'to make it stop。”Not paying much attention，the man says，“Sure，OK。”So he gets on the horse and says，“Thank God”and the horse starts walking。Then he says，“Thank God，thank God。”and the horse starts trotting。Feeling really brave，the man says，“Thank God，thank God，thank God，thank God，thank God。”and the horse just takes off。Pretty soon he sees this cliff coming up and he's doing everything he can do to make the horse stop。
“Whoa，stop，hold on！！！”Finally he remembers，“Amen！！！”
The horse stops 4 inches from the cliff。Then the man leans back in the saddle and says，“Thank God。”
有个人在沙漠里迷了路，独自一人在沙漠里行走了两星期。一天，他看到了传教士的房子。他筋疲力尽地朝房子爬了过去，终于倒在了门口。传教士发现了他并且悉心照顾他恢复健康。感觉好了些后，他向传教士打听最近的城镇的方向。当他走出后门时，他看到了这匹马。他又回到屋里问传教士，“能把你的马借给我，等我回城后马上归还吗？”传教士答道，没问题，但是这马有个怪癖。当你想它走，你得说：“Thank God”，当你想它停，你得说：“Amen。”这人不太在意的回了句，“噢，好的。”然后他上马说到：“Thank God”，马开始走了。然后他又连着说了几句：“Thank God，Thank God”，马开始小跑了。他感觉好极了，继续说道：“Thank God，Thank God，thank God，thank God，thank God”马简直要飞起来了。不一会，他看到悬崖就在前面，马上想尽办法让马停下来。“哇，停，停下来，”最后他终于想起了，“Amen”，马终于在离悬崖4英寸的地方停了下来。他身体往后靠在马鞍上说到，“Thank God”。
1.desert n。沙漠，荒原
This plant can live in a desert。（这种植物能在沙漠中存活。）
v。遗弃，放弃
Never desert a friend in need。（不要抛弃有困难的朋友。）
2.missionary n。传教士
He is a missionary from England。（他是一位从英国来的传教士。）
3.collapse n。倒塌，衰竭，失败
The collapse of the building cost no casualties。（这栋建筑物的倒塌没有造成伤亡。）
v。倒塌，瓦解，崩溃
These caves collapse easily in heavy rains。（这种窑洞大雨时很容易倒塌。）
4.trot v。（马）小跑，（人）慢跑
The donkey began to trop faster。（驴开始跑的快起来了。）
1.crawl up 爬向，爬上
He had to crawl up the stairs and managed to fall over onto the bed and fell asleep。（他不得不爬上楼梯，再爬上床铺睡觉。）
2.take off 脱掉，起飞
Peter，take off your pajamas。（彼得，把睡衣脱掉。）
When the storm stopped，the plane could take off。（当风暴停下来时，飞机可以起飞了。）
3.pretty soon：立即，马上
I will be back pretty soon。（我不久就回来。）
4.lean back：向后倾斜
I drink it slowly and lean back against my bamboo chair。（我细啜慢饮，坐在竹椅上，身体往后靠在椅背上。）
V-ing的用法：不知道大家有没有注意到，在上面的小幽默里，几次都出现了一个同样的句型：“Feeling better，the man asks the missionary……”“Not paying much attention，the man says……”“Feeling really brave，the man says……”那么这些-ing在句子中做的是什么成分呢？
我们先来回忆一下，v-ing一般在句子中可以做主语，如：Collecting information is very important to business。做宾语：I enjoy learning English。做表语：The work was a little tiring。做定语：I know the man standing there。做状语：Walking through the park，we saw a lot of flowers。做宾语补足语：I saw two birds building a nest。
所以上面几个V-ing在句中都是做状语。大家记住一点喔，现在分词作状语时，它逻辑上的主语必须与句子的主语一致。