2．The day for the great balloon competition finally arrived．Every insect in the garden had been （21）B hard，and now they were preparing to begin their routines．The balloon competitions were always something really special．
Each time，the flying insects were favourite （22）Cto win，because they could seize the balloon strings and fly off in all directions，creating all sorts of （23）Ain the air．（24）D，on this occasion there were some rather unusual insects taking part：a group of ants．Of course，（25）D expected that they could do anything special．They were so light that no ant had ever（26）Ato take part，but it was quite impressive to see all the ants all （27）C organized and prepared．
So the competition began，and the（28）B insects took their turns，performing beautiful movements with the balloons．As always，the butterflies left everyone（29）Awith their twist and turns，and their wonderful colours．When it was time for the ants to perform，it seemed like the competition had already been decided．
For the（30）A time in living memory，the ants shared just one balloon between them，and one by one they climbed up the balloon string，（31）B a thin black thread of ants．When all the string was covered，the last ant climbed（32）B his teammates to reach the balloon．（33）Ahe got there，he climbed onto the top of the balloon．
This strange（34）Cattracted everyone's curiosity，and they were just about to witness the most important （35）D：the ant opened his jaws as wide as he could…and then he made a violent movement at the balloon with all his strength!
The result was powerful!The balloon began blowing out its air，flying（36）B about，here and there，doing a thousand turns and spins，while the ants made all kinds of beautiful shapes out of the string．
Of course，that acrobatic（雜技般的） flight（37）A with quite a hard landing，but it didn't （38）C．The creativity and teamwork of the ant performance was so（39）Bthat the crowd didn't even have to vote for there to be a winner．
From then on，in that garden，everyone understood how much could be achieved by working （40）D．In the years to come，the balloon competitions were full of displays carried out by teams，and they put on some wonderful routines； something those individual insects could never have achieved on their own．
| 21．A．fighting | B．training | C．functioning | D．living |
| 22．A．speakers | B．organizers | C．candidates | D．producers |
| 23．A．patterns | B．numbers | C．drawings | D．sounds |
| 24．A．Besides | B．Thus | C．Instead | D．However |
| 25．A．a(chǎn)nybody | B．somebody | C．everybody | D．nobody |
| 26．A．bothered | B．hesitated | C．refused | D．promised |
| 27．A．quickly | B．terribly | C．perfectly | D．strangely |
| 28．A．special | B．different | C．familiar | D．similar |
| 29．A．a(chǎn)mazed | B．disappointed | C．bored | D．blessed |
| 30．A．first | B．second | C．last | D．next |
| 31．A．cutting | B．forming | C．using | D．passing |
| 32．A．with | B．over | C．a(chǎn)round | D．through |
| 33．A．Once | B．If | C．Though | D．Until |
| 34．A．idea | B．a(chǎn)ttitude | C．behavior | D．experience |
| 35．A．effect | B．case | C．condition | D．moment |
| 36．A．weakly | B．madly | C．peacefully | D．carefully |
| 37．A．ended | B．started | C．continued | D．broke |
| 38．A．help | B．work | C．matter | D．tell |
| 39．A．necessary | B．impressive | C．natural | D．important |
| 40．A．a(chǎn)lone | B．behind | C．out | D．together． |
