1.“How many things papa knows about！”said Nelly to her mother one day.“He is always reading books.I wish I could read those big books，and learn all about everything！”
2.“People do not learn everything from printedbooks，Nelly，”her mother replied.“There are many lessons to be read which are not found in books.”
3.Nelly did not know what her mother meant，for she thought that wise people got alltheir knowledgefrom books.
4.“There are many things you may learn，”said her mother，“when you are in the garden.You have only to keep your eyes open，and the flowers and the trees will all tell you the story of their lives.
5.”If you want to know which flowers come out in the early spring，and which ones wait forthe warm summer days，you only need to watch for their coming.
6.“You do not need books to tell you how the leaves of the apple-blossom fall off，and how the lower part of the blossom swells out into a little green apple.You can see it growing day by day if you care to look.
7.”By keeping your eyes open you may learn much about the flowers and fruit and other things in the garden.When you learn in this way，you are reading stories from Nature’s story-book.
8.“But Nature‘s story-book is also a lesson-book.You may read many lessons there，very easy lessons and very useful ones，which willhelp to remindyou of what you ought to do.
9.”Did you ever notice the ants at work？
How busy they are！Each one has his own work to do in building their house，and filling it with food for the winter.
10.“The bee also tells you not to be idle，but to work hard.How busy the bees are，flying from flower to flower，and how happy theyseem！It is pleasant to hear them humming as they gathertheir honey .”
11.“Children have only to keep their eyes and their ears open，and they maybe learningall day long.And the lessonsthey learn from the flowers，and the birds，and the brooks，and the trees，are really lessons from Nature’s story-book.”
12.“I like Nature‘s stor y-
book，mamma，”said Nelly.“I think it is a more pleasant book to read from than papa’s books，and I should like tobegin reading from it at once.You must help me to find the easy lessons first.”
GRAMMAR EXERCISE
1.Name the first ten nouns in the lesson.
2.Write down the adjectives in sections 1to 4.