【课文原文】
THE TIME MACHINE (Adapted)
It was at ten o’clock today that the first of all Time Machines began its career. I gave it a last check, and sat myself in the leather seat. I pushed the starting lever on the main panel forwards an inch then immediately backwards again. Looking around, I saw my laboratory exactly as before. Had anything happened? I thought my mind had tricked me. Then I saw the clock. A moment before, it was a minute or so past ten; now it was nearly half past three!
I drew a breath, gripped the lever and pushed it forwards. The laboratory went hazy around me. My niece came in to fetch something, maybe her handkerchief, apparently without seeing me. It probably took her a minute, but to me she moved like a rocket! I pushed the lever further. Night came as if a lamp was being turned out, and in another moment came the day. Tomorrow night came, then skipped today, again and again, faster and faster still.
It is hard to explain the strange and unpleasant feeling of time travelling. It felt like I was being driven fast on a winding road. As my pace grew faster, the walls of the laboratory fell away, and I was left in the open air. The sun and moon looked as if they were being thrown across the sky, but soon there was division between night and day. Around me I saw trees growing like puffs of smoke; they grew, spread, and died in moments. I saw huge buildings rise up, then disappear like in a dream. The whole surface of the earth was being changed, melting and flowing before my eyes. I calculated that I was being pushed through time at hundreds of years a minute.
I had a strong urge to look at the random things that were being flashed before my eyes! I had thought about the risk of stopping the Time Machine many times. So long as I travelled at maximum speed, it didn’t matter. But if I stopped and the same space was being occupied by something else, we would be forced together and explode like a bomb! Like an impatient fool, I pulled the lever backwards hard. With a sudden jolt, the Time Machine was flipped on its side, and I was thrown through the air.
I was stunned for a moment, and then heard the sound of thunder. I was sitting in the rain in some mud next to the machine. “A fine welcome,” I said, “for a man who has travelled thousands of years to be here!”
31. What makes the traveller think that the Time Machine works?
A.The change of time on a clock. |
B.The lab that looks different. |
C.The strange feeling in mind. |
D.The trick the machine plays on him. |
32. Why is the author invisible to his niece?
A.Because he is hidden from her. |
B.Because they are not in the same time. |
C.Because there is no lamp in the room. |
D.Because he moves like a rocket. |
33. How does the time traveller feel when travelling through time?
A.Excited. | B.Relaxed. |
C.Unfortunate. | D.Uncomfortable. |
34. Why is the time traveller worried about stopping the machine?
A.An accident can happen. |
B.The machine will turn over. |
C.An explosion may take place. |
D.The machine has no brakes. |