A hole in the board

張玲

In a small village， a little boy lived with his father and mother. He was the only son for them. The parents of the little boy were very sad because of his bad temper（脾氣） . The boy used to get angry very soon and laugh at others with his bad words. His bad temper made him love using angry words. He spoke angrily to kids， neighbours and even his friends because of anger. He made all worries （惹麻煩） for his parents through his words. While he forgot what he spoke in anger， his friends and neighbours avoided him.

His mother and father asked him in many ways to give up his anger and develop kindness. Unfortunately， all the things they did were not successful. Finally， the boys father came up with an idea.

One day， his father gave him a huge bag of nails （釘子）. He asked his son to hammer （錘） one nail to the board every time he became angry and to lose his temper. The little boy found it very funny and accepted to do what his father said.

The nails drove him to hammer in the board for 30 times on the first day！ Every time he lost his temper， he ran to the board and hammered a nail. In the next few days， the number of nails hammered on the board was half fewer than before. The little boy found it very difficult to hammer the nails and decided to control his temper.

Slowly， the day arrived when no nail was hammered！ Yet， the boy did not lose his temper. He told his father that it was several days that he did not hammer any nail and he did not lose his temper！

Now， his father told him to put out the nails every day as he had controlled his anger. Several days passed and the boy was able to pull out most of the nails from the board. However， there remained a few nails that the boy could not pull out.

The boy told his father about it. The father was very happy with him and asked him， pointing to the hole， “What do you see there？”

The boy answered， “a hole in the board！”

He told the boy， “The nails were your bad temper and they were hammered on people. You can pull the nails out but still see the holes in the board. Again， you cannot pull out a few nails. The board never look the same！ It has scars （傷痕） all over！ If you put a knife into a man， the wound （傷口） will remain there forever. Your bad temper and anger were like that！ Words are more painful than physical hurt！ Use words for good. Use them to show your heart！”

Questions：

1. Why did people avoid the little boy？ （No more than 5 words）

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2. What was the fathers way to deal with the sons bad temper？ （No more than 13 words）

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3. What could the boy learn from that lesson？ （No more than 11 words）

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答案：

1. Because he had bad temper.

2. Every time he lost his temper， he hammered a nail in the board.

3. Words are more painful than physical hurt！ Use words for good.