I learned about life from an ant farm. When I was seven years old, my family ___16___ an ant farm at home. First, we put clean sand in a thin glass box, and then we brought some ants from the backyard and placed them into the ___17___ home.

Shortly after the new ___18___ were dropped into the glass structure, they got to work making tunnels. I was amazed that each one knew ___19___what to do. After hours of staring, I realized that the ants had assigned jobs. With my mom ' s help, I kept a diary of what happened each day and ___20___ the ants. My favorite was the biggest , Cinderella. I drew a picture of her in my diary, which I still have .

One day a tragedy ___21___ the ant farm.While I was observing the ants , I had put my face so close to the structure that I accidentally ___22___ it over. Unfortunately, my carelessness caused all the tunnels to ___23___. Although the ants ___24___ their earthquake, one by one they began to die. I was ___25___ as I watched them give up their tunnel-building to carry the bodies to a corner of the farm. My mother reported that the ants were actually dying of "frustration"--- the feeling annoyed and disappointed as they couldn’t control the situation . They simply could not ___26___ the reality that their tunnels had been destroyed. Cinderella was the last to die ---she did so while carrying a dead ant on her back .

Although much time has passed, I still think of that ant farm. Mom had hoped it would teach me about the natural world, ___27___ it taught me much more.___28___ the years, I came to realize the ants were a study in the benefits of ___29___. Working together, they were able to create a(an) ___30___ world for themselves. I also learned that they should be___31___ for their hard work. Day in and day out, each labored at their task. The ant farm showed that teamwork and perseverance are indeed two key ___32___ for success. But there was an even larger lesson that I did not ___33___until recently: Disaster is a natural part of life, and must be ___34___. Unlike the ants, humans cannot give up when they face ___35___. Unlike the ants, we have to realize that if a tunnel caves in , we just have to build another.

16. A. created         B. bought              C. ran                 D. laid

17. A. empty           B. new                 C. strange             D. distant

18. A. guests          B. settlers            C. friends             D. members

19. A. probably        B. roughly             C. exactly             D. normally

20. A. named           B. trained             C. compared            D. measured

21. A. affected        B. struck              C. kicked              D. beat

22. A. split           B. took                C. tipped              D. handed

23. A. rush out        B. break in            C. drop out            D. cave in

24. A. experienced     B. predicted           C. faced               D. survived

25. A. annoyed         B. astonished          C. moved               D. thrilled

26. A. reflect         B. ignore              C. confirm             D. stand

27. A. and             B. but                 C. so                  D. or

28. A. In              B. For                 C. From                D. Over

29. A. teamwork        B. devotion            C. responsibility      D. organization

30. A. relaxing        B. amusing             C. moving              D. amazing

31. A. supported       B. inspired            C. admired             D. admitted

32. A. conclusions     B. solutions           C. recipes             D. circumstances

33. A. give            B. realize             C. take                D. adopt

34. A. accepted        B. suffered            C. escaped             D. managed

35. A. challenges      B. barriers            C. pressure            D. disappointment