13.(　　 ) The Leaning Tower of Pisa is _______.

A. modern　 B. falling down　 C. 600 years old　 D. 60 years old

12.(　　 )The writer used to think Pisa______.

A. in Spain　　 B. not very famous　 C. not the same as pizza　 D. the same as pizza

11.(　　 )This passage is about_______.

A. Italian pizza　　 B.　 Italy’s　 problems

C. How the Leaning Tower of Pisa got its name　　 D. Why the writer likes Pisa

10.(　　 )The story tells us _____.

A. how zero came to be used　　 B. how to write zero

C.　 what’s　 the use of zero　　 D. that zero means a dot, a circle or space

( C )

I often dreamed about Pisa when I was a boy. I read about the famous building called the Leaning Tower of Pisa .But when I read the word Pisa, I was thinking of pizza .I thought this tower was a place to buy pizza .It must be the best place to buy pizza in the world, I thought.

Many years later finally saw the Leaning Tower. I knew then that is was Pisa and no pizza .But there was still something special about it for me .The tower got its name because it really does lean to one side. Some people want to try to fix it .They are afraid it may fall over and they don’t like it leans over the city.

I do not think it’s a good idea to try to fix it .The tower probably will not fall down ,it is 600 years old. why should anything happen to it now? And ,if you ask me ,I like what it looks like. To me it is a very human kind of leaning .Nothing is perfect ,it seems to say.

And who cares? Why do people want things to be perfect? Imperfect things may be more interesting .Let’s take the tower in Pisa. Why is it so famous? There are many other older ,more beautiful towers in Italy. But Pisa tower is the most famous. People come from all over the world to see it.

9.People used circles _____________.

A. to remember ways　 B. to remember numbers

C.　 not to forget the space　　 D　 .to mean nothing

8.(　　 )Later ______ was used to mean space.

A.　 "not any"　　 B.letter"0"　　 C.　 zero　　 D.　 a dot

7.(　　 )Long,long ago if they wrote two hundred-eight ,people wrote_____.

A.218　 B.2 8　　 C.228　　 D.208

6.(　　 )Long,long ago people didn’t know how to ____.

A. write　 B .write zero　　 C. write numbers　 D.　 sixty-three

5.(　　 ) After hearing the farmer’s words ,perhaps the artist would be ______.

A. very worried　 B. very happy　 C.　 very thankful　　 D. very disappointed

( B　 )

Long, long ago there was no zero. To write the number sixty-three people wrote 63.To write six hundred and three, people wrote 63.The space between six and three was there to mean." not any "tens. Sometimes people did not remember the space. It was hard to see and read.

Later people used a dot to hold the space. Six hundred and three looked like this 6.3.But the dot was hard to see. So people put a circle around it like this 6⊙3.Then people could see the dot. They remembered the space. at last ,only the circle around the dot was used. It was like a zero. This is one story of how the zero came to be used.

Now zero has many important uses .Zero tells how many. Can you tell some other ways of using zero?

4.(　　 ) The artist thought the farmer wanted a picture of his because _______.

A. the farmer was an artist too　 B. the farmer liked his pictures very much

C. the farmer wanted to give it to his son as a present　 D. the farmer was rich