1 . I discovered the power of fear when I became stuck to my driveway, as if my feet were crazy-glued to the cement (水泥). As much as I tried, I could not move them. The realization that my daughters were playing in Nancy's house, just one-half block away, paralyzed (麻痹) my legs, making me unable to move when I neared the end of our driveway. Dense, black smoke was rising from behind the Sycamore Maple trees on the other side of the street and was enveloping three houses, making them barely visible. Nancy's house was one of them.
I tried to call out for my daughters, hoping to see them run safely to my arms, but my voice was also stuck-stuck in my throat with no intention of coming out. There I stood, helpless, paralyzed and silenced by fear, unable to protect the two lttle girls I loved more than even I had realized.
Although trapped in a body that couldn't move or speak, I could still hear. I could hear other mothers anxiously calling their children. I could hear a frightening silence that covered the neighborhood instead of the usual happy voices of children. And, finally, I could hear the alarm of the fire engine. As the alarm announced, "We're on our way," it instantly dissolved the crazy glue that had held my feet to the cement and it unlocked the soundproof box that had silenced my voice. I was free to make sure my daughters were safe.
As I continued down the driveway, two little girls, my two little girls, ran toward me from across the street. They had come home to tell me about the fire in the garage next to Nancy's house. Not only did my feet and voice work now, but my eyes were also in good working order and had no trouble producing tears.
1. Why was the author stuck to her driveway?| A．She was too tired to move her legs. |
| B．Thick black smoke blocked her view. |
| C．The cement on the driveway was still wet. |
| D．The fear for her daughters' safety struck her. |
| A．Shouting from other anxious mothers. | B．Strange silence in the neighborhood. |
| C．The alarm of the coming fire engine. | D．The courage to protect her daughters. |
| A．She burst into tears of relief and happiness. |
| B．She was really thankful to see her girls saved. |
| C．She was too excited to believe what she saw. |
| D．She overcame her fear and fully recovered. |
| A．Love in Fire | B．Stopped in Silence |
| C．A Narrow Escape | D．The Price of Fear |
2 . It was 3:21 a.m. when nine-year-old Glenn Kreamer awoke to the smell of burning. Except for the cracking (爆烈声) of flames somewhere below there was not a sound in the two-storey house at Baldwin Long Island.
With his father away on night duty at a local factory, Glenn was worried about the safety of his mother, his sister Karen, 14 and his 12-year-old brother Todd. He ran downstairs through the smoke-filled house to push and pull at Karen and Todd until they sat up. Then he helped each one through the house to the safety of the garden. There, his sister and brother, taking short and quick breaths and coughing, fell down onto the lawn.
The nine-year-old boy raced back into the house and upstairs to his mother’s room. He found it impossible to wake her up. Mrs. Kreamer, a victim of the smoke, was unconscious, and there was nobody to help Glenn carry her to the garden. But the boy stayed calm and, as a fireman said later, "acted with all the self-control of a trained adult."
On the bedroom telephone, luckily still working, Glenn called his father and, leaving Mr. Kreamer to telephone the fire brigade and ambulance service, got on with the task of saving his mother.
First he filled a bucket with water from the bathroom and threw water over his mother and her bed. Then, with a wet cloth around his head he went back to the garden.
He could hear the fire engine coming up, but how would the firemen find his mother in the smoke-filled house where flames had almost swallowed up the ground floor?
Grasping firmly a ball of string (线) from the garage, Glenn raced back into the house and dashed upstairs to his mother’s room. Tying one end of the string to her hand, he ran back, laying out the string as he went, through the hall and back out into the garden.
Minutes later he was telling fire chief John Coughlan, "The string will lead you to mother." Mrs. Kreamer was carried to safety as the flames were breaking through her bedroom floor.
1. Why did Glenn run downstairs first?| A．He wanted to find out what was happening. |
| B．He was worried about his mother’s safety. |
| C．He wanted to save his sister and brother. |
| D．He went to see if his father had come back from work. |
| A．Glenn. | B．Glenn’s father. |
| C．Glenn’s sister. | D．Glenn’s neighbor. |
| A．unfortunate | B．confuse |
| C．terrified | D．senseless |
| A．his father had taught him to do so on the phone |
| B．he had learned something about first aid |
| C．he had dealt with the emergency calmly and wisely |
| D．he had followed his mother’s instructions |
3 . ROME— four people, including the wife of the factory's owner, died on Wednesday after explosions （爆炸）at the Barcelona Pozzo di Gotto fireworks company, Italian media reported.
According to online reports by La Republic and TGCOM24, at least one other person is missing and three others are seriously injured, with two of them in dangerous condition. Among the dead was 71-year-old Venera Mazzeo, the wife of the factory owner Vito Costa. Mazzeo reportedly died on the scene. Antonio Costa, the owner's son, was seriously injured and was transported to a hospital in the regional capital of Palermo for treatment. Less seriously injured persons were moved to the nearby Milazzo Hospital to be treated for burns and other injuries. Many were transported by local people who reached the scene before ambulances could arrive, reports said.
The factory, located near the northeast of the southern Italian island of Sicily, near the city of Messina, has been in operation for more than ten years without any accident. Police reports showed that two separate explosions took place, with the first explosion likely causing the second one. Media reports said that police have guessed that sparks （火花）from a repairing project reached some of the explosive material stored in the factory and was likely the cause of the first explosion.
Reports also showed that firefighters were able to control the flame, which burnt buildings on the factory and threatened nearby structures.
1. How many people lost their lives in the accident except Venera Mazzeo?| A．Three. | B．Four. |
| C．Five. | D．Six. |
| A．One worker's cigarette spark. |
| B．A fire nearby the factory. |
| C．The explosive material in the factory. |
| D．The sparks from a repairing project. |
| A．Antonio Costa died on the scene because of the flame. |
| B．Most injured persons were sent to hospital by ambulance. |
| C．The factory had been in safe operation before the explosions. |
| D．There were three explosions in total in the accident. |
| A．A travel guide. | B．A newspaper. |
| C．A magazine. | D．A science report. |
