Oncetherelivedarichmerchant（商人）andapoorshoemakerinthesamehouse．Themerchantoccupiedthesecondfloor，（36）___theshoemakerlivedandworkedinasmallroomonthefirstfloor．Theshoemakerwasoneofthe（37）___pe

　　Once there lived a rich merchant（商人） and a poor shoemaker in the same house．The merchant occupied the second floor，（36）___ the shoemaker lived and worked in a small room on the first floor．The shoemaker was one of the （37）___ persons on earth．He worked from morning till night，singing merrily．His heart was filled with （38）___，whenever he saw the boots and shoes （39）___．Now the merchant upstairs was so rich that he（40）___ knew how much wealth he had．He was always （41）___over his gold and silver coins far into the night．Even in bed his uneasiness（不安） about his riches kept him （42）___．When at last he had been asleep for an hour or two，up came the song of the happy shoemaker，who was an （43）___ riser．It continued all day and was a （n） （44）___ to the merchant．Day by day the merchant grew more and more tired through want of（45）___．He asked a wise friend of his how he could put an （46）___to the shoemaker's song．"Well，if I were you，I would give the shoemaker a hundred pounds，"answered his friend．"You are rich enough to do that，I suppose．Ask for nothing in（47）___．Simply give the money．"The merchant （48）___the advice．

　　When the shoemaker（49）___the bag that had been sent by the merchant，he was （50）___ to find shining coins．"I must hide this from the eyes of my neighbors．If they see it，they will think that I have stolen it，"he thought．"I will （51）___ it away even from my wife．"So he hid the bag of money under the floor．From then on he （52）___ his neighbors as much as he could．His wife who had been the best （53）___ to him，became troublesome．Now his mind was too much set on the money bag to （54）___ to his work with diligence（勤劳）．He could not sing merrily now．（55）___ he thought of the money bag，he became uneasy and unhappy．

　　36．A．forB．thoughC．whileD．however37．A．poorestB．happiestC．richestD．shortest38．A．sm