An 8-year-old southeast Kansas girl is being praised for her quick, calm thinking. She grabbed the steering wheel(方向盘) and drove the family’s SUV when her mother fell unconscious on their highway ride to school.
Abby Porter and her mom, Shelly, were heading for her school in Riverton when Shelly had a medical emergency. She passed out(昏倒) behind the wheel.
Abby is a second-grader whose father sometimes lets her drive their tractor. With her mother falling down heavily, Abby leaned over and took the wheel. At some point, Abby even successfully performed a U-turn on the four-lane highway, because she was going home to her daddy, according to Galena Police Chief Larry Delmont.
“That was at 8:37 in the morning, and there was a lot of traffic,” Delmont said. Officer Jimmy Hamilton noticed the SUV going about 20 mph and weaving a bit between the two lanes. He suspected someone was driving under the influence. As he got closer, he noticed the woman fell over in the driver’s seat and saw Abby at the wheel.
Hamilton tried to get in front of Abby’s car to slow her down, but she kept switching lanes to avoid bumping into his car. Hamilton got alongside her and told Abby to stop the vehicle, but she didn’t know how. He then told her she needed to bump into him to stop the car, but Abby said she didn’t want to because she was afraid. He convinced Abby bumping into his car was OK.
‘‘I never saw her cry,” Hamilton said. “From just the expression on her face and the tone of her voice, you could tell she was scared. But she stayed with it.”
Emergency crews got Abby’s mother to the hospital, but Delmont said he didn’t know what caused her to lose consciousness.
The police department in Galena, a town of about 3,000 residents about 150 miles south of Kansas City, planned to present Abby with a plaque(匾牌) for “outstanding bravery in a life-threatening situation”.
5. People praise Abby Porter mainly because at such a young age, she can ______.
A.drive an SUV |
B.go to school regularly |
C.take good care of her mother |
D.react quickly and calmly in an emergency |
6. What is the right time order of the following events?
a. Abby leaned over and took the wheel.
b. Shelly fell over in the driver’s seat.
c. Abby bumped into Hamilton’s car.
d. Hamilton noticed the SUV.
e. Shelly drove Abby to school.
A.b, a, d, e, c | B.c, b, a, d, e |
C.e, a, b, c, d | D.e, b, a, d, c |
7. Why was Abby able to drive her family’s car at that time?
A.Jimmy Hamilton was telling her what to do. |
B.She had learned to drive her father’s tractor before. |
C.Her mother had told her how to drive a car before. |
D.She was clever enough to do some unexpected things. |