Stuffy Pete sat down on a bench in the New York City Park．It was the third bench to the left as you enter the park from the east．

Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years，an Old Gentleman had come to find Stuffy there at one in the afternoon．He led Stuffy to a restaurant and watched him eat a big dinner He was trying to make it a tradition．

Stuffy had just come from a dinner so big that he had almost no power to move．How he expected that gentleman would not come this year! Then his eyes grew wider and his breath stopped．

The Old Gentleman was thin and tall，dressed all in black．He wore eye﹣glasses．His hair was whiter and thinner than it was last year．His legs did not seem as strong as they had seemed the year before，but he moved，straight and proud，to Stuffy and toward the tradition that he was building．

"I am glad to see everything's fine with you．For that blessing you and I can give thanks on this day of thanksgiving．If you will come with me，my man，I will give you a dinner that will surely make your body feel as thankful as your mind，"said the gentleman．The words themselves were almost a tradition．

Stuffy was very full，but he understood that his desire for food on Thanksgiving Day was not his own．It belonged to this kind gentleman．

The gentleman led Stuffy to the restaurant and to the same table where they had always gone．He sat at the table，watching．

The turkey and all the other food were gone almost as quickly as they appeared Stuffy saw the look of happiness on the gentleman's face．He continued to eat to keep it there．

In an hour the battle was finished．

"Thank you for my Thanksgiving dinner，"Stuffy stood up heavily．

They said goodbye，as they did each year，at the door．

Stuffy went around the first corner，stood for one minute，and fell．He was picked up and taken to a hospital．

An hour later，the Old Gentleman was brought to the same hospital．

"That nice old gentleman over there，"a doctor was talking to another．"Do you know what's wrong with him？He's almost dead for the need of food．A very proud old man，I think，He told me he hadn't eaten anything for three days．"

37．How many Thanksgiving dinners had the Old Gentleman invited Stuffy to have？　　

A．One．

B．Two．

C．Nine．

D．Ten．

38．Why did Stuffy's eyes grow wider and his breath stop when he saw the Old Gentleman coming？　　

A．He felt awful because he was too full．

B．He was afraid to have another big dinner…

C．He felt excited to see the gentleman was fine．

D．He was surprised to meet the gentleman there．

39．What does the underlined word "it" in the story refer to？　　

A．The gentleman's need of food．

B．Stuffy's effort to finish all the food．

C．Stuffy's thanks to the gentleman．

D．The happiness on the gentleman's face．

40．Why did the Old Gentleman still offer Stuffy the big dinner after he had been hungry for three days？