1999/02（追試）
Mrs. Tortino lived in an old Victorian house crowded all around by tall, new buildings, fifteen. twent3r stories high. The house had been her family’s for many years, and Mrs. Tortino was determined never to leave it. But life had become difficult.
The tall buildings made her old house dark, so that Mrs. Tortino saw little of the sun every day. The darkness made her garden damp and unhealthy. 11cr vegetables grew weaker and [he flowers wouldn’t bloom, Even the chestnut tree looked sad.
Then there was the traffic. Its noise never ended, and Mrs. Tortino’s old cat, Pursifur, coughed a lot because of the terrible air. He spent his time on the roof, where the air was fresher and the sun was a little closer.
Yet in spite of everything, Mrs. Tortino would not move from the house. She remembered how just last year some people had come with money to buy it, so they could tear it down and construct another tall building in its place. But Mrs. Tortino had sent them away with angry words.
Then one day in early spring, a man in a bowler hat came to her door. Somehow he seemed different from the others as he walked all around her shaded house, gazing at the long shadows in the garden and sniffing the foul air.
At first Mrs. Tortino thought he would offer her money for her home, like all the rest of the men. But when he began to speak she listened, her eyes opening wide. “Could you really do that?” she asked.
The man nodded.
“A tall building right where my house stands, but you won’t destroy. . . ?“
“That’s right,” he said. “Your house will be under the same sky, on the same street, at the same address. You’ll keep everything just as it is. Even Pursifur.”
“And there will be money for more tomato plants and some flower seeds and cat food for Pursifur?”
“Indeed,” said the man, smiling. Mrs. Tortino stared at the man in the bowler hat for a long time. Then, at last, she said, “All right!” And they shook hands.
When he had gone, Mrs. Tortino looked down at Pursifur. “Isn’t it amazing?” she said. “I can hardly believe it’s possible!”
Pursifur just hummed quietly.
Soon workers came with their tractors and their cranes. They lifted Mrs. Tortino’s old house right off the ground and set it to one side. Then they dug up the garden very carefully and replanted it all in pots. Everything was now ready, and the construction of the building could start.
After five weeks, a strong steel frame had been built, two stories high. On top of the frame stood a crane, and next to the crane stood Mrs. Tortino’s family home. Every week, as a new floor was finished, Mrs. Tortino’s house was lifted one floor higher. Each time it rose, the sunshine increased, and Mrs. Tortino smiled broadly.
By the twentieth week, Mrs. Tortino’s house was seventeen stories off the ground, where it was sunny from five in the morning until nine at night. Mrs. Tortino hardly knew there were cars below, and Pursifur had forgotten about his cough.
Mrs. Tortino recalled how at first she had been afraid in her bed when the great crane picked up her old home. Then she had taken to looking out of the window. At last she simply sat down on the front porch and enjoyed the ride as her house was lifted higher in the sky. It was like being on the Big Wheel in an amusement park.
Then at last, in another three months, the new building was finished. It was the tallest in the city ? thirty floors. People looking up from below saw a house on top of the building. Others looked through powerful glasses and saw pumpkins, tomatoes, and lettuce. “And isn’t that a chestnut tree?” someone said.
Certainly there was a chestnut tree, as well as some very large pumpkins. But it was not just any house they saw. It was Mrs. Tortino’s old family home.
- Why did Mrs. Tortino agree to the offer from the man in the bowler hat?
① He promised her more sunshine without offering her any money.
② He said they would build a house which looked just like her old one.
③ He told her that she would not have to move out of her old house.
④ He told her to move to a new building located at the same address. - Which is the best description of Pursifur before the old house was moved?
① He caught cold because it was dark and cold.
② He couldn’t go out and play because of the heavy traffic.
③ The noise from the traffic drove him to the roof.
④ The pollution from the traffic affected his health. - How was the construction of the new building started?
① They destroyed the house and tore the garden apart.
② They first lifted Mrs. Tortino’s house for a while but left the garden as it was.
③ They lifted up the house and carefully buried the garden.
④ They moved the house to one side and removed the things growing in the garden. - Where was Mrs. Tortino’s house most of the time while they were making the building?
① It remained hanging from the crane.
② It stood on top of the frame.
③ It was on the Big Wheel.
④ It was placed beside the building - Which of the following sentences best describes how Mrs. Tortino felt as the house was lifted up?
① She didn’t realize cars were running below her house until the building was completed.
② She gradually got frightened even though she could enjoy more sunshine.
③ She really enjoyed the construction of the building from the start.
④ She was scared at first but in time she found it delightful.
