1 . Tears of relief and shouts of joy rang out at the San Jose Mine in northern Chile when 33 miners were lifted to freedom, one by one. The men, ranging from 19 to 63 years old, have been buried alive since a cave in the copper and gold mine they were working collapsed on August 5, 2010. It is the longest time anyone has ever survived being trapped underground.
After the collapse, the men found an emergency shelter off one of the mine’s tunnels. The temperature in the dark shelter was around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. For more than two weeks, the miners’ water came from the tanks on their work vehicles. They shared a supply of food that was meant to last for only 48 hours.
The miners were totally isolated until rescue teams made contact with the men on August 22. They sent a note to the surface explaining their situation. Rescuers drilled small holes to reach the cave and sent down supply tubes containing food, water, clothes, medicine, fresh air and other supplies. They also received letters from their families, a television set and games.
Additional collapses slowed down rescue efforts. Finally, a tunnel was built that could fit a 13—foot rescue capsule (救生舱), called the Pheonix. The escape hole measures 28 inches across, a tight fit for the twisting 20 minutes, 2, 041—foot ride. The first miner reached the surface just after midnight on October, 13. The rescue mission was faster than expected, and all 33 men had been brought to safety by late the same day.
The miners were met by family members who were waiting at Camp Hope, a settlement of tents near the mine. Chile’s president, Sebastian Pinera, cheered at the scene and hugged the miners. “We made a promise never to give up, and we kept it,” he said. After an immediate medical exam, the men were airlifted to the nearest hospital for 48 hours of observation.
1. How long were the rescued miners trapped in the mine?A.About 48 hours. | B.About two weeks. |
C.One month and a half. | D.More than two months. |
A.The water from the tanks. |
B.Small holes drilled to reach the cave. |
C.A tunnel built to fix a rescue capsule. |
D.Letters, games and a TV from the surface. |
A.All miners reached the surface just after midnight on October 13. |
B.The loss of the mine collapse. |
C.The health condition of the trapped miners. |
D.The concern of Chile’s president about the mine collapse. |
A.received medical examination in a hospital at first |
B.could go home immediately they got out of the mine |
C.had to stay in a hospital for two days before going home |
D.felt relieved to see their family members taken good care of |
A.Disaster at the Mine | B.A Miracle at the Mine |
C.Efforts of Great Chileans | D.Miserable Life of Chilean Miners |
2 . Schools across the US East Coast canceled outdoor activities, commercial airline traffic was slowed and millions of Americans were urged to stay indoors on Wednesday as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south, blanketing cities in thick and yellow smoke.
“It’s critical that Americans experiencing dangerous air pollution, especially those with health conditions, listen to local authorities to protect themselves and their families,” US President Joe Biden said.
New York’s world-famous skyline, usually visible for miles, disappeared because of the smoke, which some residents said made them feel unwell.
“It makes breathing difficult,” Mohammed Abass said as he walked down Broadway in Manhattan. “I’ve been scheduled for a road test for driving, for my driving license today, and it was canceled.”
“It looks like Mars out there,” said Fox Forecast Center meteorologist Brian Mastro just before 2 p.m.
New York Goveror Kathy Hochul called the situation an “emergency crisis,” noting that the air pollution index for parts of her state were eight times above normal.
In Bethesda, Maryland, a high school moved its graduation ceremony indoors, while a Brooklyn, New York, elementary school deferred its “Spring Fling” dance party. A school in Montelair, New Jersey, called off a fifth-grade trip to an amusement park.
The smoke was wafting (飘荡) over the US northern border from Canada, where hundreds of forest fires have burnt 9. 4 million acres and forced 120,000 people from their homes in an unusually early and intense start to Canada’s wildfire season.
Tyrone Sylvester, 66, playing chess outside in Manhattan’s Union Square us he has on most days for 30 years, but wearing a mask, said he had never seen the city’s air quality so bad. “When the sun looks like that,” he said, pointing at the smoky sky, “we know something’s wrong. This is what global warming looks like.”
Poor air quality is likely to continue into the weekend, with a developing storm system expected to shift the smoke westward across the Great Lakes and deeper south through the Ohio Valley and into the mid-Atlantic region, AccuWeather said.
1. What do we know about Mohammed Abass?A.He took a test for driving. | B.He had no driving license. |
C.He had some health conditions. | D.He stayed indoors as expected. |
A.Put off. | B.Took over. | C.Came up with. | D.Did away with. |
A.Canada’s poor management. | B.The areas affected by wildfires. |
C.The cause of America’s smoke. | D.The consequences of air pollution. |
A.New York City smoke situation is not uncomfortable. |
B.A strong wind will probably relieve the poor air quality. |
C.Citizens have found new ways to fight climate changes. |
D.The city’s air pollution doesn’t relate to global warming. |
3 . Joey, who was six at the time, had the day off from school. His father, Joe Welch, a 50-year-old photographer, planned to spend the day boating in the huge river. Joe had never before been into the muddy waters, which were famous for crocodiles (鳄鱼). He had researched what to do if they encountered one-just in case.
Joe turned to scan the boat, less than 20 feet from the water’s edge and then he was busy making some sandwiches at a wildlife refuge. Seconds later, he heard a splash and a scream. Joey had slipped at the edge of the water. When Joe rushed there, he saw his son’s right arm in the jaws of a crocodile which was at least eight feet long and close to 200 pounds. Time seemed to stop as Joe ran toward his son. The river was almost three feet deep. As Joey struggled and screamed, Joe began pulling him back toward the bank. A young man ran over, screaming at Joe to pull his son out of the water. But Joe feared what would happen to Joey’s arm if he pulled too hard. While Joe knocked on the beast’s head, the young man kicked its stomach. After the stranger’s three or four kicks, the crocodile released Joey and escaped back into the water. Joe picked up his son and found that he’d suffered only a few cuts and scrapes. Joe thanked the stranger and sped home. A nearby hospital determined that Joey was OK.
Joe has tried to find out who helped save his son, but he has learned only that the man was a boxer from Spain. He had been in the country visiting his family. “ He’ s like an angel,” Joe says.
1. What was his father doing when Joey slipped into the water?A.He was boating in the river. | B.He was searching for a boat. |
C.He was taking some photos. | D.He was preparing food. |
A.He screamed to a stranger for help. | B.He pulled his son back toward the bank. |
C.He knocked on the crocodile’s head. | D.He kicked the crocodile’s stomach. |
A.The crocodile was caught. | B.Joey was slightly injured. |
C.The stranger drove them home. | D.Joey lost his arm unfortunately. |
A.His name. | B.His address. | C.His career. | D.His age. |
4 . Nearly two years ago, Lauren Kornacki, a recent college graduate, walked outside her family’s home in Virginia to ask her dad if she could borrow his car. As she rounded the corner from the front yard into the garage, Lauren, saw her father, Ale, lying unconscious, pinned on his back beneath his car. The car had fallen off the jack while he was changing the brake pads on the right rear tire.
Lauren yelled inside at her mother to call emergency services, and then ran to the car. “I thought, I’m going to lose my dad,” she says. Unsure of what to do, she stuck both hands under the wheel hub where Alec had removed the tire and pulled up with all her strength. To her surprise, she lifted the car. Then she held it up with one arm and, with the other, pulled her father out from under the car by his pants leg.
Alec wasn’t breathing, so Lauren, a lifeguard certified in CPR, began performing chest compressions. Within seconds, Alec took a breath and opened his eyes. “Stay with me,” Lauren whispered as they waited for the ambulance. “Just keep breathing.”
Doctors treated Alec for five fractured ribs, a fractured sternum, and fractured vertebrae, but he was able to return to his job as an IT professional two months later. Lauren, now a computer engineer, says she didn’t stop to think. “Everyone has a basic instinct to help the ones they love,” she say.
1. What had happened about her father when Lauren arrived at the garage?A.He was replacing a part of his car. |
B.He was lying at the right side of his car. |
C.He was pressed under his car out of consciousness. |
D.He was repairing the right rear tire of his car on the jack. |
A.Her father could escape the death. | B.She hadn’t expected her effort so effective. |
C.She was very anxious to save her father. | D.The car was not that heavy as she thought. |
A.Professional emergency service. | B.Unconditional love from a daughter. |
C.A strong and tough body. | D.A timely professional first aid. |
A.The Girl Lifted a Car off Her Dad | B.The Gil Breathed Life into Her Dad |
C.Dad Got Pinned Beneath a Car | D.A Loving Daughter and a Lucky Dad |
5 . On June 23,2018,twelve young Thai boys and their assistant football coach wandered into a karst cave in northern Thailand, near the border with Myanmar. What happened next would grab the world’s attention and lead to a complex and daring international rescue operation. The 10.3-kilometer-long Tham Luang cave flooded, trapping the boys in total blackness nearly 2.5 kilometers from the cave entrance.
Thousands of people from around the globe participated in the rescue effort, including military personnel, medical experts and the rock stars of the operation — cave divers. The divers, who safely removed all of the Thai children and their coach after 18 days underground, dealt with tight spaces and low visibility in muddy water- conditions that would prove deadly: Saman Gunan, a former Thai Navy Seal, died while transporting air tanks into the cave.
While the sport of cave diving had received attention in the pop culture area prior to the rescue mission in North Thailand, there is little doubt that the brave divers at Tham Luang cave helped push the activity and its varieties of risks into global society’s minds.
The sport-often referred to as among the world’s most dangerous recreational activities-has its roots in pre-WWII England. Since then, the recreational practice of cave diving, described by Australian cave explorer Richard Harris (a participant in the Tham Luang cave rescue) as an “unusual hobby” for “the ordinary,” has spread around the world-China included.
Over 1,000 kilometers northeast of Tham Luang cave, in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, lies karst-peak-covered Du’an county-China’s little-known cave diving Mecca.
Home to thousands of kilometers of underground rivers, Du’an county offers divers spellbinding geological formations, perhaps the world’s largest collection of blind fish species and a rare variety of freshwater jellyfish.
1. What do we know about the Tham Luang cave rescue operation?A.There was no loss of life in the process. | B.Rock stars took part in the rescue efforts. |
C.Rescue team came from more than Thailand. | D.Few people cared about it outside Thailand. |
A.Its dangerous recreations. | B.Its long history. |
C.An expert’s description. | D.The divers’ heroic deeds. |
A.It is northeast of Tham Luang cave. | B.There are lots of underground rivers. |
C.It is hardly known to the outside world. | D.It has the world’s largest geological formations. |
A.Spectacular cave diving experiences in Du’an. |
B.Diving instructions shared by Richard Harris. |
C.Lessons learned from this rescue operation. |
D.Foods offered to tourists in Du’an. |
The Lomax family needed a dog. Though their house was already full with seven people, they knew a dog would truly make the house a home. So they settled on a dog whom they named Jack. It turned out to be the best decision they ever made.
It was Jack’s protective instinct(本能) that would save the lives of the Lomax family. If it wasn’t for him, the family may never have survived the terrible accident that would eventually befall one cold January day in 2020.
It was a night like many others. Autumn, the family’s youngest child and her mother Ashley had settled into bed in one of the bedrooms on the second floor. Jack, who rarely left Autumn’s side, had settled in there as well. Little did they know that something terrible was about to happen that night. While the family was fast asleep, a fire had started in one of the other second floor bedrooms. Jack had picked up a whiff (些微的气味) of smoke in the next room. In an instant, the brave dog jumped into action.
The four-legged family member knew something was wrong but had no way of telling his owners. He jumped up Ashley’s bed and began touching her face. She pushed him off her bed and tried to roll over but he began again, until she was up.
As soon as she could, Ashley took hold of Autumn and began to move away from the door. She screamed at the top of her lungs as she ran from the room, alerting the rest of the family to the disaster that was taking place. Jack did his part again too, barking loudly. Ashley’s screams woke the four other adults and two more children. All of them headed out into the cold January night. In no time, the fire had engulfed (吞没) nearly the entire home, but luckily, all of them had made it out alive, with Jack leading the way.
1. Why did the Lomax family raise a dog? (No more than 15 words)2. What does the underlined word mean in the 2nd paragraph? (No more than 3 words)
3. Which floor did Jack sleep? (No more than 5 words)
4. What did Jack do when he sensed something wrong? (No more than 10 words)
5. What do you think of Jack? Please explain? (No more than 20 words)
7 . Norwood, a junior High School student, was driving three friends home in St. Petersburg, when another driver crashed into her from her left and made her car hit the tree. The impact jammed shut the driver’s side door, so Norwood climbed out the front window. Two of her friends managed to get out of the car unharmed, but her 16-year-old friend Zarria didn’t. She run back to the car only to find Zarria was just sitting there reactionless.
A lot of people started to gather around to see what was happening. Norwood started yelling, “Back up, back up, she needs space.” Norwood pulled Zarria out of the back seat, avoiding broken glass from the window. “That’s when I checked her pulse on her neck. I put my head against her chest, and I didn’t really hear nothing. So that’s when I just started doing CPR on her.” Norwood told the reporter. After the 30 compressions and two rescue breaths, Zarria regained consciousness. Ambulance quickly arrived and rushed her to the hospital to receive medical help.
When Miller, Norwood’s high school teacher, learned that Norwood saved a friend just one day after completing CPR training, she was at a loss of words and so proud. Norwood participates in the school’s Athletic Lifestyle Management Academy (ALMA). The program prepares students for various careers in health science. “We do vital signs and they learn how to take blood pressure and check pulse.” Miller introduced. And another one of the skills learned is CPR. “There are two components, a hands-on skills component where they have to demonstrate that they’re able to do CPR well, and then there’s a written test component, showing that they remember that knowledge.”
Thanks to Norwood’s quick thinking, Zarria is recovering well. She also isn’t surprised by her friend’s actions. “She will always help any way she can, so I wasn’t really shocked about that.”
1. What happened to Norwood and her friends on their way home?A.They lost their way. | B.They suffered a car accident. |
C.They crashed into another car. | D.They were stuck in a traffic jam. |
A.To give her first aid. | B.To ask people for help. |
C.To call ambulance at once. | D.To send her to hospital immediately. |
A.It normally lasts for one day. |
B.It is for medical students only. |
C.It focuses on both theory and practice. |
D.It trains students to live a healthy lifestyle. |
A.Considerate and flexible. | B.Kind and ambitious. |
C.Hardworking and clever. | D.Brave and calm. |