A long time ago, in an Italian city, the people there built a tower which was admired by everyone passing through. A little further down the road, in a neighboring city, they had built a tower of similar beauty. The two towers were equally well known. The people of the second city, envious (妒忌的) and filled with pride, planned to destroy the neighboring tower so it wouldn’t take attention away from their own. One night, they came to the tower and began to quietly undermine its foundations(地基).
The next morning, the tower was leaning(倾斜) slightly ,but nobody noticed. The same happened for the following few days, until a little girl who was passing by pointed up at the tower and said: “ I think the tower is going to fall down.” And everyone around looked closely, and could see that she was right .Nervousness spread through the city. And they tried many methods to try to straighten the tower, but nothing seemed to work. That was, until one day when the same little girl was walking up again, and she put her arm on the side of the tower to rest. She felt the tower shaking slightly. When she took her hand off it, the movement stopped. And when she put it back on again, the same thing happened. The girl spent a while doing this, until she was completely certain of what she had discovered: “ The tower is ticklish ( 怕痒的) ！” She ran to get some plants, and she planted them right next to the tower. Now if the tower leant over any further it would be tickled by the leaves of those plants. Being a ticklish tower, it would then return to where it had been. In this way, the girl managed to make sure that the tower didn’t fall down, but still kept it leaning a little.
The fact that it was leaning made it even more famous, and this taught a fine lesson to the envious people of the neighboring city.
【小题1】Why did the people of the second city plan to destroy the neighboring tower?

A long time ago, in an Italian city, the people there built a tower which was admired by everyone passing through. A little further down the road, in a neighboring city, they had built a tower of similar beauty. The two towers were equally well known. The people of the second city, envious (妒忌的) and filled with pride, planned to destroy the neighboring tower so it wouldn’t take attention away from their own. One night, they came to the tower and began to quietly undermine its foundations(地基).

The next morning, the tower was leaning(倾斜) slightly ,but nobody noticed. The same happened for the following few days, until a little girl who was passing by pointed up at the tower and said: “ I think the tower is going to fall down.” And everyone around looked closely, and could see that she was right .Nervousness spread through the city. And they tried many methods to try to straighten the tower, but nothing seemed to work. That was, until one day when the same little girl was walking up again, and she put her arm on the side of the tower to rest. She felt the tower shaking slightly. When she took her hand off it, the movement stopped. And when she put it back on again, the same thing happened. The girl spent a while doing this, until she was completely certain of what she had discovered: “ The tower is ticklish ( 怕痒的) ！” She ran to get some plants, and she planted them right next to the tower. Now if the tower leant over any further it would be tickled by the leaves of those plants. Being a ticklish tower, it would then return to where it had been. In this way, the girl managed to make sure that the tower didn’t fall down, but still kept it leaning a little.

The fact that it was leaning made it even more famous, and this taught a fine lesson to the envious people of the neighboring city.

1.Why did the people of the second city plan to destroy the neighboring tower?

2.The underlined word“undermine”（in Paragraph1）probably mean “_________”．

3.When local people heard the news that their tower was going to fall down, they were _________.

4.What lesson can we learn from the practice of the envious people in the neighboring city?

A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer’s hair. The golden red sun was setting. She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery ball. She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.

　　The atmosphere relaxed her. After all she had been through, and this is what she needed. “It’s getting late,” she thought, “I must go home, my parents will be wondering where I am.”

　　She wondered how her parents would react, when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking, directing herself to Boungalow 163, where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.

It was really getting dark now, the sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold too. She wished she had her favorite coat on: it kept her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought disappeared when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now... it all seemed deserted. She couldn’t understand what was going on.

She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said: “Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready, I went looking.” Ellen was her mother but where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents’ room. She went in. Then she saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn’t slept for days. She was really pale. Jenny would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired. So Jenny just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up, something was different. She wasn’t in her mother’s room and she wasn’t wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her cozy bed in her room.

It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice. “Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very scared.”

60. The underlined word “this” in the second paragraph refers to ___________.

A. the beautiful scenery　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. the relaxed atmosphere

C. being alone　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. going back home

61. According to the fourth paragraph, which of the statements is TRUE?

A. The girl wore her favourite clothes and felt warm.

B. The girl’s parents worried about her very much and have looked for her for several days.

C. The girl’s father didn’t always keep everything clean and tidy.

D. The girl’s mother dealt with everything at home.

62. The author wrote the passage to show how___________.

A. she got home by overcoming so many difficulties

B. wonderful it was to be home again no matter what happened

C. hardworking her parents are

D. dangerous to get back home

63. It can be inferred from the passage that ___________.

A. the girl’s parents always treat her badly

B. the girl has a miserable childhood

C. the girl got a teenager’s problem

D. the girl has a poor family

A long time ago, in an Italian city, the people there built a tower which was admired by everyone passing through. A little further down the road, in a neighboring city, they had built a tower of similar beauty. The two towers were equally well known. The people of the second city, envious (妒忌的) and filled with pride, planned to destroy the neighboring tower so it wouldn’t take attention away from their own. One night, they came to the tower and began to quietly undermine its foundations(地基).

The next morning, the tower was leaning(倾斜) slightly ,but nobody noticed. The same happened for the following few days, until a little girl who was passing by pointed up at the tower and said: “ I think the tower is going to fall down.” And everyone around looked closely, and could see that she was right .Nervousness spread through the city. And they tried many methods to try to straighten the tower, but nothing seemed to work. That was, until one day when the same little girl was walking up again, and she put her arm on the side of the tower to rest. She felt the tower shaking slightly. When she took her hand off it, the movement stopped. And when she put it back on again, the same thing happened. The girl spent a while doing this, until she was completely certain of what she had discovered: “ The tower is ticklish ( 怕痒的) ！” She ran to get some plants, and she planted them right next to the tower. Now if the tower leant over any further it would be tickled by the leaves of those plants. Being a ticklish tower, it would then return to where it had been. In this way, the girl managed to make sure that the tower didn’t fall down, but still kept it leaning a little.

The fact that it was leaning made it even more famous, and this taught a fine lesson to the envious people of the neighboring city.

63. Why did the people of the second city plan to destroy the neighboring tower?

A. Because the tower blocked the way of their tourists.

B. Because the tower had the same building style as theirs.

C. Because they hoped that the tower could lean slightly.

D. Because they hoped that visitors just liked their own tower.

64. The underlined word“undermine”（in Paragraph1）probably mean “_________”．

A. test　 B. raise　 C. damage　 D. strengthen

65. When local people heard the news that their tower was going to fall down, they were _________.

A. very anxious

B. very happy

C. very ashamed of themselves

D. angry at the people in the neighboring city

66. What lesson can we learn from the practice of the envious people in the neighboring city?

A. All that ends well is well.

B. Every dog has his day.

C. A bad beginning makes a bad ending.

D. A friend is never known till a man has need.

Today, I felt terrible. My head was full of problems, burdens and confusion. I decided to take a walk even though I didn’t know where I would go.
The most extraordinarything happened when I was out on this walk. I saw an old man sitting on a chair. He was a seller of second-hand shoes. He looked at least 70 years old. He seemed so tired and nobody bought his shoes. I wanted to give him something but I had not brought anything with me.
Then, a little girl came toward him. I heard the child say, “Grandpa, may I polish your shoes?” That old man took pity on her and he gave her a shoe to polish. The girl said, “I polish the shoe because I need money to buy my brother a new school uniform.”
I heard this and tears filled my eyes. The old man answered, “Oh, little girl. Just stop doing this. Come with me and I will buy you a uniform.” Then they walked to a market and I followed close behind them. There he bought her a uniform. The girl said, “Thank you so much for doing this. May God bless you.” Then she left, leaving the old man smiling.
The old man walked away from the market, but I stopped him. I whispered in his ear, “You are a hero! Thank you for your kindness!” As I walked away, I glanced back and I could see him still smiling.
My own sadness had disappeared, chased away by the light of this kind act. I began realizing that I have a lot to be thankful for. I hope, some day, I can show my appreciation of what I have by following the example of the old man who only had a little, but shared it happily with someone who had nothing.
【小题1】The author decided to take a walk in order to    .