The Bird's Christmas Tree

    It's a sun shining winter afternoon． In a small yard in Luss， Scotland， Kate and Effie（1）　　（tie） the baskets to the branches（树枝） of the Christmas tree and filling them with corns． The children （2）　　（work） busily but happily for many hours， making the little baskets for the birds．

    Many birds come in． Some are eating， and others are dancing．

    Even the pretty blue jay（蓝松鸦） （3）　　（forget） to be pretty． When he has eaten his fill， he is flying away， crying "Thanks， thanks!"

    What a happy life the tree brings to the birds and the children! But two weeks ago， the tree （4）　　 nearly　　 （cut） into firewood．

    Two weeks ago， the Christmas tree was once in the living room． Kate and Effie， and Sue and Tom， had a happy Christmas Day， for the tree was hung with gifts for them all．

    One day， when the children （5）　　（play） games around the tree， John came and told them that he was going to carry it into the woodshed．

    "What （6）　　 you　　 （do） with it， John？" the children asked．

    "I want to cut it into firewood，" answered John．

    "Oh， don't!" cried the children． "Our beautiful tree! Let us（7）　　（have）it a little longer!"

    "What will you do with it？" asked John．

    "We （8）　　（put） it in the yard and make a Christmas tree for the birds，" replied the children．

    So John carried the fir tree into the yard． There it （9）　　 （stand） in the white snow， spreading out its beautiful green branches．

    "Now" cried Effie， "let us make some baskets （10）　　（fill） corns． Then we will tie them to the tree for the birds．"

    What happened next？ As you can see at the beginning of the story， the birds are living happily． With the birds and the tree， the children are also very happy． It is hard to tell which are happier， the birds or the children． I believe the tree is the happiest of all．