一位年已九旬的老人在花园里栽种一棵无花果树。一个年轻人看到后感到迷惑不解。于是引发了两人的一番对话。本篇短文通过这件寓意刻的小事，说明了“前人栽树，后人乘凉”的道理。
　　1.He was planting a fig tree. 本小题属于表层理解题，答案就在这位老人的回答中。
　　2.He was ninety years old. 与上题相似，其答案也在答语“I am ninety years old.”中。
　　3.No，he wasn't. He was planting the tree for the people after him to enjoy. 从“You are planting a very young tree now and it'll take years to give fruit. You certainly don't hope to live long enough to get any fruit from this tree.”中可看出答案是否定的。而其原因则隐含在“…and I am doing the same for the people after me.”中。
　　4.Yes, he did. 答案就在“‘Sure,’ the man did not know why he asked this question.”这句话当中。
　　5.We should do some good things for the people after us. 那位有钱的人听了老人的这一席话，深受启发。他说的“We should do some things for the people after us.”这句话就是答案的出处。