1 . It was rush hour in San Angelo. Heather Santé was driving her Mazda with her nine-year-old daughter and ten-year-old son in the back. Suddenly, a red pickup truck ________ them off. Santé turned the wheel hard to the right, sending the Mazda ________ off the road and down an embankment (筑堤) that ended in a drop-off after about 50 feet. If the car didn’t ________, it would fall onto the road some 20 feet below. Then a bit of ________: As the car raced toward the edge, its undercarriage got ________ on the concrete lip of the embankment, stopping it ________.

The occupants, however, were far from safe. The car had come to rest on top of a wall, literally (确实地) on the edge of ________. One sudden move by anyone inside could send it over.

Jacob Rodriguez watched the ________ unfold from the company where he works. Then he and four other men ran to the car. They ________ onto the trunk to balance the weight as the ________ kids in the back seat watched.

_____, Julio Vasquez and his nephew, Marco Vasquez, were driving to their jobs nearby. Julio jumped out of the car to help ________ Marco went to the shop, ________ a heavy-duty belt, and returned to the ________ car. He tied the Mazda to a truck that had been driven over by one of the other rescuers. With the car ________, the group carefully opened the ________ doors and helped the children out.

But their departure changed the car’s ________, causing it to tip forward. The men, still on the trunk, ________ Santé to jump into the back seat to re-balance the weight. She did and then inched out the back door. Finally, the men carefully ________ the car. Everyone was safe. Another foot, Rodriguez told USA Today, “and this would be a different ________.”