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?

Any day we wish；we can discipline ourselves to change it a11．Any day we wish；we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge．Any day we wish；we can start a new activity．Any day we wish；we can start the process of life change．We can do it immediately，or next week，or next month，or next year．

We can also do nothing．We can pretend rather than perform．And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable，we can remain as we are．We can choose rest over labor，entertainment over education，delusion(幻想)over truth，and doubt over confidence．The choices are ours to make．But while we complain about the effect，we continue to nourish(助长)the cause．

As Shakespeare uniquely observed，“The fault is not in the stars，but in ourselves．’’We created our circumstances by our past choices．We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today．

Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth .They need the whole truth .And the responsibility to nothing but the truth．

We cannot allow our errors in judgment，repeated every day，to lead us down the wrong path．

We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out．And then we must make the very choices that will bring life，happiness and joy into our daily lives .

And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life—If you don’t like how things are，change it !You’re not a tree．You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life — and it all begins with your very own power of choice．

1.The first paragraph tells us that_________.

A．no one wants to be disciplined

B．we often need some new knowledge

C．taking activities does good to our health

D．we want to change all the time

2.We may conclude from the second paragraph that

A. whatever happens, we have to change ourselves

B. people tend to nourish the cause of bad results???

C. whether we change or not depends on ourselves

D. most choices we made are not good enough

3.From Shakespeare’s words，we know________.

A．it? is our duty to change for the better

B．we complain a lot about our past choices

C．sometimes we have to face the fate

D．we should believe in ourselves in life

4.In the author’s opinion，if。you want a good life，what you need most is_______.

A．self confidence??? B．good choices??? C．strong wills? D．the truth

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?

The average kid has a busy day. There’s school, taking care of your pets, running around with friends, going to sports for practice or other activities , and doing your homework. It’s tiring just writing them all down. By the end of the day, your body needs a break. Sleep allows your body to rest for the next day.

Everything that’s alive needs sleep to survive. Even your dog or cat curls up for naps. Animals sleep for the same reason as you do to give the body a tiny vacation.

Not only is sleep necessary for your body, it’s important for your brain, too. Though no one is exactly sure what work the brain does when you’re asleep, some scientists think that the brain sorts through and stores information, replaces chemicals, and solves problems while you snooze.

Most kids between 5 and12 get about 9.5 hours a night, but experts agree that most need 10 or 11 hours each night. Sleep is an individual thing and some kids need more than others.

When your body doesn’t have enough hours to rest, you may feel tired or cranky; or you may be unable to think clearly. You might have a hard time following directions, or you might have an argument with a friend over something really stupid . A school assignment that’s normally easy may feel impossible, or your may feel clumsy playing your favorite sport or instrument.

One more reason to get enough sleep: If you don’t you may not grow as well. That’s right, researchers believe too little sleep affect growth and you immune system-which keeps you from getting sick.

59. The underlined sentence means_____.

A. the author is too tired to write any more

B. the author doesn’t want the kids to do anything at school

C. the author is angry with what the kids do at school

D. the author thinks the kids are busy all day at school

60. The author’s purpose of writing this passage is to tell us_______.

A. why everyone needs to have enough sleep

B. animals need to sleep every like us

C. most kids need to sleep at least nine hours a day

D. kids are busy doing a lot of things every day

61. If you don’t have enough sleep you may__________.

A. finish your work ahead of time   B. not get on well with your work

C. work out a problem easily          D. not find your way back home

62. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. You need a sleep to let your body rest every day.

B. Feeling tired means that you need to have a rest.

C. Kids who need more sleep than others must be ill.

D. If you want to grow normally you should have enough sleep.