There was a time when New York City buildings were almost all the same height.

3.Today you can see buildings of different heights that seem to touch the sky. They are called skyscrapers(摩天大楼). They shape the famous New York City skyline.

 It started about 90 years ago. It began like a race. This wasn't a race down the street or around a track(跑道). It was a race for the sky. Who was racing? Buildings were.Their builders were actually racing to build the world's tallest skyscraper.

 The race started slowly.

 First came the Woolworth Building, in 1913. It rose 792 feet(英尺) on the southern side of the city. Then the race heated up.In1930, two skyscrapers were nearing completion. The Bank of Manhattan Building was finished first. It rose up to 927 feet into the sky. Builders were then putting a round roof（屋顶）on the top of the Chrysler Building. It rose up t0 925 feet. The Bank of Manhattan, two feet taller, seemed to be the winner.

 A few weeks later, New Yorkers saw a strange sight（景象）.  The day that the Chrysler Building was to be completed, workers raised a shiny metal, spire（尖顶）through the top of the building, adding 121 feet to the building's height! At l,048 feet,the Chrysler Building was now the world's tallest.

 But the race was not over.  A year later, in 1931, the Empire State Building became the new winner.4.At l,250 feet, it was the world's tallest building.

 In 1973, even that record was broken. Builders finished the World Trade Center. At 1,368 feet high, it rose above all other buildings in New York City.

 Time goes on. As technology improves, taller buildings are being built. The race is still on.

①Jack let me play with his favorite toy car. I made it go too fast and it  crashed(摔坏).  {#blank#}1{#/blank#}  

②All my friends have many new clothes. But my parents can't afford them. I think it is a shame(遗憾的事). {#blank#}2{#/blank#}  

③My close friend always want me to give him the answers in exams. But I really don't want to do that. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}  

④My friend Jenny always takes a MP3 with her and listens to loud music. I think it may hurt her ears. But she doesn't seem to care. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}  

⑤Sam saw some bird eggs under a tree when we had a trip in the forest. He wanted to take them home. I stopped him. He was angry with me. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}  

A. Try to tell him it is wrong for you two to do that. Then try to help them with his lessons in you spare time.

B. Tell him that he is doing something bad to animals. If he takes the eggs home, how will their mother feel when she can't find them?

C. You can get some examples from papers, magazines or TV shows, and let her know it's really bad.

D. Say sorry to him first. And try to repair it. Or you may give him your favorite toy car instead. Or to buy a new one for him.

E. A person's look or appearance(外表)doesn't mean everything. The most important thing is to study hard and have a good future.

George Michael

    Michael was born in London. His father, Tom was a restaurant owner{#blank#}1{#/blank#}When Michael was young, he lived with his parents and his elder sisters, Yioda and Melanie.

    Michael spent his childhood in Kingsbury, London{#blank#}2{#/blank#}While he was in his teens, he moved to Radlett with his family. There, Michael attended Bushey Meads School in Bushey. When he was in Bushey, he met an important person{#blank#}3{#/blank#}The two young men had great dreams. Both of them wanted to be musicians. They became friends. In 1981, they formed a music group “Wham!” . The music group made them famous. Lots of people got to know them{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    After that, Michael didn't give up his career as a singer{#blank#}5{#/blank#}He was best known for his work in the 1980s and 1990s, including the songs Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Last Christmas. His albums such as Faith (1987) and Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1(1990) were popular, too.

    Have you ever counted the number of digits (数字) in your mobile phone number? Your number has 11 digits. You may sometimes find it hard to remember your number. That's because China has the longest mobile phone numbers in the world. Why is that?

    The 11 digits can be divided into three parts. Each part has a different meaning. The first three numbers tell you which mobile phone service provider (提供者) you are using For example, 135 is for China Mobile Communications Corporation and 188 is for China Unicom. The fourth to the seventh digits tell you where the number is registered (注册). And the last four digits are random (随机的).

    The main reason for using 11 digits is that we have the largest population in the world. We once had 10 numbers. But as our population grew, there were not enough numbers for us to use. So we began to use 11 digits starting from 1999. Eleven digits can be used to make tens of billions of mobile phone numbers. That's enough for each person to have seven or eight phone numbers to use in China.

    And mobile phone numbers can be recycled. Usually, the service provider will reuse a canceled number after three to six months. If you call a number that you haven't contacted (联系) for a long time, you may find that its owner has changed.

    Besides China, Britain and Japan also use 11-digit mobile phone numbers. But their numbers always start with 0. So they cannot create as many numbers as we can. Countries like the United States, Australia and India use phone numbers with 10 digits. Canada's mobile phone numbers are perhaps the shortest in the world: they use seven digits.