1 . “Fire! Fire!” What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! It was a large, old, wooden house and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped outside the house. It was full of thick smoke.

I began to run, but as I was still only half-awake, instead of going towards the stairs I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I could see fire all around. The floor became hot under my bare feet. I found an open door and ran into a room to get to the window. But before I could reach it, one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. Just then the floor gave way under me and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me.

I saw a doorway in fire, then I put the bundle over my face and ran. My feet burned me terrible, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes gave a thin cry, I nearly dropped it in my surprise. Then I was in a crowd gathered in the street. A woman in a night-dress and a borrowed man’s coat screamed as she saw me and came running madly. She was the Mayor’s wife, and I had saved her baby.

1. When the fire arose in the middle of the night, the author was ________.

A．at home

B．sleeping

C．sitting in bed

D．both A and B

2. The author saved the baby ________.

A．because he was very brave.	B．because he liked the baby very much.
C．but he just happened to save it.	D．because it was the Mayor’s baby.

3. He ran in the wrong direction because he ________.

A．was a stranger there	B．could see nothing
C．was not completely awake	D．Both A and C

4. He put the bundle over his face and ran in order to ________.

A．save the baby

B．call for help

C．protect his face

D．run quickly