1 . A snowboarder was feeling lucky to be alive yesterday after a helicopter rescue(直升机营救).
Ben Akintola, 30, was snowboarding in the French Alps under a clear blue sky in the afternoon when a large amount of snow fell down the side of the mountain. He didn’t have time to escape(逃脱) and it hit him with full force and knocked him senseless.
He woke in the night in total darkness. He was lying on an icy rock. Amazingly, he still had a mobile phone signal(信号), so he called a friend a thousand kilometers away in Britain. His friend called the French rescue services.
“I was waiting for what seemed like hours on that rock. I was beginning to give up hope when I heard the sound of a helicopter. It was circling around in the darkness, looking for me. I was trying my best to wave my mobile around. Fortunately the helicopter pilot saw the light.”
“I was overjoyed when the helicopter headed my way. It stayed above me and began lowering a rope.”
Ben was in hospital last night but he was not being treated for any serious injuries. He’s looking forward to going home today.
The French rescue services said: “We were very pleased that we were able to save Ben. The risk of snow slide off-piste(非滑雪场地的) is much higher at this time of year. All snowboarders and skiers should stay on the ski runs and not go off-piste. Ben was very lucky.”
1. What happened to Ben?| A．He got lost in the French Alps. | B．He had a snowboarding accident. |
| C．He was separated from his friends. | D．He was knocked down by falling rocks. |
| A．from his friend | B．in the early afternoon |
| C．after receiving his call | D．when seeing his mobile |
| A．It made him strong in the darkness. | B．It caused him to hope for the best. |
| C．It was shorter than he expected. | D．It was a little discouraging. |
| A．A Lucky Escape | B．A Rocky Mountain |
| C．Risks of Snowboarding | D．French Rescue Services |
2 . “ Mayday ! We got Mayday!” Frank Pisano screamed over the microphone to the air control tower at the airport. One of the two engines on his plane had failed，and he was now going down towards one of the busiest highways in America—Interstate 405，just south of Los Angeles—and there was no stopping it.
Driving south on the 405，near the airport’s runway，was John Meffert，a fire department captain. He was heading home from his shift when suddenly a low—flying plane caught his eye. After he took a second glance，a thought crossed his mind: “This plane’s going to hit me.”
He was right. The plane slammed into the road，popped up a few feet，and then clipped the front of Meffert’s car. It finally stopped after hitting the divider(隔栏). Meffert pulled over. He was unhurt，and his car had received only a large scratch，so he turned his attention to the plane. He ran towards the smoke，and then he saw Frank’s wife, Janan Pisano，pop her head up on the passenger side.
By the time Meffert reached the aircraft，part of it was on fire and Janan，who was covered in blood，was on the wing trying to pull her husband from the wreck. Meffert，afraid the plane would explode，guided her to safety behind it. Then，he ran back for Frank，who had been knocked out by the initial crash，lying across both seats.
Meffert carefully positioned himself under the pilot’s arms and lifted him from the cockpit. Then he dragged the pilot off the wing and carried him to safety，where they could see the plane in flames.
The Pisanos spent three weeks in the hospital. Remarkably，Meffert’s car was the only one hit by the plane. Had Meffert been a second or two faster，Frank said，the left propeller(螺旋桨))would have ripped the top off his car and killed him.
“I play all the what-ifs—going slower，going faster. It could have been a very different result，”Meffert said. “We just had a lot of angels.”
1. What does the underlined word “Mayday” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．A special day in May. | B．The arrival time. |
| C．A message for help. | D．The local airport. |
| A．Frank mistook 405 for the runway. | B．The plane caught fire. |
| C．The pilot was seriously hurt. | D．Only one engine was working. |
| A．His good sense of direction. | B．His low driving speed. |
| C．His second glance at the plane. | D．His belief in God. |
| A．Meffert and Frank were friends. |
| B．Meffert’s car was not totally damaged. |
| C．Janan Pisano was one of the crew of the airport. |
| D．the plane would take off again when Frank recovered. |
