1 . One minute, Peggy Lewis and her husband, Harris Lee, were watching the trees blow in the wind. The next, they were surrounded by flying pieces of glass from the house’s broken windows. The roof was torn off. The walls caved in (塌陷). After the 152-mph tornado (龙卷风) had passed, it took a team of neighbors to pull the couple from the rubble (碎砖) and take them to the hospital.
When the pair returned to their house three days later, it was clear that what remained of the house would need to be torn down, but before Peggy would let that happen, she wanted one thing first—her family Bible.
Peggy had bought the Bible 35 years earlier, at the start of her marriage. Like many people, she’d used it to hold her family’s history — old photos, and a handkerchief from her great-grandmother.
The Bible was the first thing Peggy looked for when she returned to the house. When two volunteers showed up, Peggy had one task for them.
After an hour of searching, one of the volunteers ran up to her. Peggy had tears running down her face. The young woman had found the book while looking through rubble. Surprisingly, while many other books inside the house had been destroyed beyond recognition, the Bible was still complete, even though it had sat in the rain for days. “I completely broke down,” says Peggy. “I thought it was gone forever.” She was extremely grateful.
Peggy and her family were living at a friend’s house until they got back on their feet. But the book already has its well-deserved place of honor, in Peggy’ borrowed dresser. She knows that while every good book tells stories of disastrous (灾难性的) weather and unlikely survival, this one actually lived it.
1. What happened to the couple during the tornado?| A．They were hurt by glass. | B．They were buried in ruins. |
| C．They were blown to the wall. | D．They were forced to leave their house. |
| A．To help find her Bible. | B．To get her a new dresser. |
| C．To dig out all the buried things. | D．To tear down the dangerous house. |
| A．It’s very expensive. | B．It’s a gift from her husband. |
| C．It marked her marriage. | D．It held important things. |
| A．Excited but surprised. | B．Sad but thankful. |
| C．Excited and thankful. | D．Surprised but sad. |
| A．An important book. | B．All of her books. |
| C．Her house. | D．Some of her relatives. |
2 . Rescue teams desperately sought survivors on August 6th after two boats carrying migrants sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa.
In the immediate aftermath of the boats’ loss on August 5th, Italy’s coastguard said it had rescued 57 people and recovered two dead bodies— those of a woman from Ivory Coast and her 1-year-old child. Local media reported on Sunday that at least 30 people remained missing and were feared dead.
Italy’s Ansa news agency said survivors described how the two boats carrying people trying to illegally enter the European Union had set off from the Tunisian port of Sfax on Saturday. One boat was thought to have had 48 people on board and the other 42. Most were reportedly from sub-Saharan Africa.
Reuters said the coastguard rescued the survivors from the water about 46 kilometers southwest of Lampedusa, which is about halfway between the North African nation of Tunisia and the larger Italian island of Sicily. The island has become a major destination for migrants from Africa wanting to enter the EU and claim asylum (政治避难) .
Italy’s interior ministry said 92, 000 people have arrived in Italy irregularly by sea so far this year to apply for asylum in the EU. During the same period last year, 42, 600 made the very dangerous journey.
The ministry said at least 2, 000 migrants have turned up on the island of Lampedusa in the past few days alone. Most had been rescued by the coastguard and by various charities from small boats in the Mediterranean Sea.
The International Organization for Migration, or IOM, which is the United Nations’ migration agency, said on Sunday both boats that sank on Saturday had been hit by major storms.
Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the IOM, told the Agence France-Presse news agency an official examination had been launched into the circumstances surrounding the loss of the boats. He said the probe will be conducted from the town of Agrigento, on the island of Sicily. “Whoever allowed them, or forced them, to leave with this sea is equal to a mad criminal,” he said. “Rough seas are forecast for the next few days. Let’s hope they stop. It’s sending them to slaughter (屠杀) with this sea.”
Emanuele Ricifari, the chief of police in Agrigento, said the people-traffickers (人贩子) would surely have known rough seas were expected.
1. What happened to the two boats and people on them?| A．Up to 42 people were supposed to have been dead. |
| B．The two boats set out from the Italian island of Sicily. |
| C．The rescue was carried out to the southwest of Lampedusa. |
| D．The destination of the two boats was the Tunisian port of Sfax. |
| A．The boats knocked into each other. | B．The boats hit a reef and began to leak |
| C．The boats were caught in strong storms. | D．The boats couldn’t bear the weight of the people. |
| A．Interview. | B．Experiment. |
| C．Discussion. | D．Investigation. |
| A．Italy’s coastguard recovers two dead bodies. |
| B．Dozens lost at sea as migrant boats go down. |
| C．Two boats carrying people try to enter European Union. |
| D．Sicily becomes major destination for migrants from Africa |
3 . After a long day at the office, Jane Hodgson was on her way home and looking forward to relaxing with a nice cup of tea. While driving, she noticed that there was a car pulled over at the side of the road and a crowd had started to gather around someone who was lying on the ground.
Jane, who had completed first aid at the work course with the British Red Cross, pulled over to see if she could do something and it turned out to be lucky for the victim.
Describing the scene she saw, Jane says, “A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene. A couple of young men were cream-faced and looking lost. They were completely terrified. When I walked up, first-aid kit in hand, they said, ‘You’re a first aider — Oh thank goodness.’ They were so shocked that they hadn’t even thought to call an ambulance yet.”
A young girl called Jenny was lying there. It turned out that the teen had been hit by a car and gone over the handlebars of her bike, landing on her head and shoulder.
“I was worried because she had not been wearing a helmet when she got knocked down, and I thought that she should not be moved as I couldn’t be sure about a spinal (脊柱) injury, but after looking her over, in relief, I felt fairly confident that she had escaped relatively unharmed. Even so, as time passed and we continued to wait for an ambulance, the amount of pain the girl was in was increasing. To avoid the risk of her going into shock I kept her talking. We chatted about her boyfriend and anything I could think of to keep her mind off the pain. She squeezed (捏) my hand when the pain got too much and this helped,” describes Jane.
Thinking back, Jane says, “I never did find out what happened to the girl. Apart from the boyfriend I wasn’t thanked by anyone else, but that’s OK. For me, knowing that in a small way I helped that girl through what was a frightening experience is all the reward I need. It felt great to know I’d made a difference.”
1. What was Jane doing when she came across the accident?| A．Driving home. | B．Repairing her car. |
| C．Drinking some tea. | D．Going to the first aid course. |
| A．Her legs. | B．Her hands. |
| C．Her head. | D．Her stomach. |
| A．Calling an ambulance. | B．Offering some first aid. |
| C．Contacting the girl’s boyfriend. | D．Keeping the girl awake. |
| A．Not all kindness needs reward. | B．First aid can save lives. |
| C．A small act can make a difference. | D．It felt good to learn first aid skills. |
4 . An injured hiker was rescued earlier this month after a train passenger saw her from the window. She was crazily waving on the other side of a river, having just spent two days stuck in the wild with a broken leg.
The rider told the train crew, who then reported it to the train inspector. Henry Smith, who was in a motor car behind them. Henry was able to stop and communicate with the woman on the opposite bank of the river, which was freezing cold and moving quickly.
The hiker, a woman in her twenties, had been missing for two days. She said she’d intended to go on a day hike, but ended up falling 90 feet down a cliff face while trying to take pictures. She reportedly told rescuers that she lost consciousness (意识) for an unknown amount of time. Despite a badly broken leg, she struggled to pull herself to the bank of the river to try to flag down trains. She had no emergency supplies with her, or suitable clothing to spend the night outdoors. There had been a cold attack while the woman was stuck in the wild. The hiker described spending daylight hours trying to get the attention of passing trains and, at night, would roll herself into a nearby cliff face in an attempt to stay warm.
Henry called to request help for search and rescue. The operator who received the emergency call said the hiker’s family had been looking for her. While they were waiting for the rescue team, Nick and Kylah, an engineer and a fireman on the next train passing by the location, came to help. 327 passengers on the train waited on the track as they crossed the river to examine the woman’s injuries and bring emergency supplies, blankets and a radio for communication. Finally, a helicopter was sent to locate and rescue the hiker and she was transported safely to the hospital.
1. Who first noticed the injured hiker?| A．A train rider. | B．Henry Smith. | C．The train crew. | D．Nick and Kylah. |
| A．She fell down the cliff face accidentally. | B．She spent day and night waving for help. |
| C．She had planned a two-day hike schedule. | D．She always stayed conscious in the wild. |
| A．The hiker’s family had been against her going hiking. |
| B．Henry sent a helicopter to locate and rescue the hiker. |
| C．Nick and Kylah were sent by the police to the rescue. |
| D．People on the next train also contributed to the rescue work. |
5 . Can you imagine just completing a life-saving training course and then having to test out your skills the very next day - on your best friend? 16-year-old Torri’ell Norwood was behind the wheel of her car when another driver hit her car. The crash made the car containing Norwood and her three passengers go across someone’s front lawn (草坪) and hit a tree.
The impact jammed Norwood’s side door shut, so she climbed out of the front window. Two of her friends also managed to get out of the car unharmed, but the accident caused her friend A’ zarria Simmons to hit her head on the backseat window. “When I turned around, I didn’t see A’ zarria running with us,” said Norwood. “So, I had to run back to the car as fast as I could. She was just sitting there unresponsive.”
And that’s when the training Norwood had just learned kicked in. “A lot of people started to gather around to see what was happening. I started shouting, ‘Back up. She needs space.’” After pulling Simmons from the car, Norwood checked her vital signs. Unable to detect a pulse (脉搏), she immediately began employing the CPR (心肺复苏) techniques she’d so recently learned on Simmons. Doctors arrived shortly and transported Simmons to the nearest hospital.
Norwood, a junior at St. Petersburg’s Lakewood High School, participates in the school’s Athletic Lifestyle Management Academy (ALMA). “We do vital signs and they learn how to take blood pressure and check pulse rates. We have just about 100 students in our academy,” said Erika Miller, Norwood’s teacher.
Miller noted that most of her former students never have the opportunity to use their CPR training until they become nurses or emergency medical technicians. “Not while they are still a student of mine and definitely not within 24 hours,” she said, adding: “It is what every teacher dreams of, you know, that somebody listens, pays attention, and learns something.”
1. What caused the accident?| A．Three passengers. | B．Another car’s crash. |
| C．Norwood’s side door. | D．Someone’s front lawn. |
| A．She cried out for help. | B．She was badly injured. |
| C．She was too scared to move. | D．She climbed out of the front window. |
| A．It inspires students’ sense of adventure. |
| B．It hires medical technicians as teachers. |
| C．It teaches students wilderness survival skills. |
| D．It prepares students for careers in health science. |
| A．Worried and angry. | B．Surprised and proud. |
| C．Confused and anxious. | D．Relieved and grateful. |
6 . The Civil Aviation Administration of China(CAAC) confirmed on Monday that a Boeing 737 passenger plane with 132 aboard crashed in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The CAAC has activated an emergency mechanism and sent a working group to the scene.
The crash site of the Chinese passenger plane was located at Molang Village, Langnan Town in Tengxian County, Wuzhou City in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to the local emergency department.
The Wuzhou City Fire Rescue Detachment (支队) immediately sent 23 fire trucks and 117 fire rescue personnel to the site. The Guangxi Fire Rescue Corps launched an emergency plan and reinforced 538 fire rescue personnel from nearby detachments for further help.
The forest fire bureau has deployed (部署) 450 firefighters stationed in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, and Guilin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to the scene.
China Eastern Airlines has grounded all Boeing 737-800 aircraft after the crash, company officials said.
Rescuers are making all-out efforts to retrieve (找回) the black boxes of the passenger plane with 132 people aboard that crashed in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Monday afternoon. an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China said Tuesday night.
The plane was severely damaged and the investigation is very difficult, Zhu Tao. head of CAAC aviation safety office, told a press briefing.
At present, the investigation team is carrying out a full search in accordance with the procedures, with rescuers exploring the crash site and going all out to search the black boxes, Zhu said.
The team is also thoroughly investigating other aspects, including flight, maintenance, air traffic control, meteorology (气象学), aircraft design and manufacturing, Zhu said .
Based on known information, the authorities do not yet have a clear clue to the cause of the passenger plane crash. the official said.
1. Which of the following is the measure taken by the local authority after the plane crashed?| A．The Wuzhou City Fire Rescue Detachment launched an emergency plan. |
| B．The Guangxi Fire Rescue Corps sent 23 fire trucks and 117 fire rescue personnel to the site. |
| C．The Guangxi Fire Rescue Corps increased 538 fire rescue personnel for further help. |
| D．The forest fire bureau has organized 450 firefighters to Zhaoqing and Guilin. |
| A．Protest. | B．Stop. | C．Donate. | D．Locate. |
| A．There were altogether 655 fire rescue personnel to provide help. |
| B．Rescuers have retrieved the black boxes |
| C．Air traffic control is the key factor leading to the crash. |
| D．The clue of the cause has yet to be found. |
| A．A newspaper. | B．A textbook. | C．A science magazine. | D．A biological journal. |
7 . When she was 21 years old, Laura Carstensen went to a concert with some co-workers. After the concert she ended up in a car driven by a young man who was drunk. As they were driving back to town, the driver was weaving across lanes and Carstensen asked him to slow down. Suddenly, she found herself lying on the side of the road outside of the car. The driver had driven off the road and the car had rolled down the hill. Carstensen had been thrown out of a window and was badly injured.
Fortunately, a truck pulled up near Carstensen and two men got out to help her. She told them she was cold and they went back to the truck to get a blanket for her. Carstensen was in shock and thought that she would ruin the blanket with her blood, but the men reassured (安抚) her that it didn’t matter. They laid the blanket on her and showed kindness and care during a challenging moment.
Carstensen spent months in the hospital recovering from her injuries, which included more than 20 broken bones. She is grateful to have survived and to be able to walk again. The kindness shown by the truckers that night has always stayed with her. She was touched by the fact that they cared enough to help her with her immediate challenge of feeling cold, even though it was the least of her troubles.
Carstensen remembered, “It was a gentle gesture. And I’ve always kept a blanket in my trunk ever since then, just in case.”
1. What happened to Laura Carstensen when she was 21 years old?| A．She fought with her co-workers. | B．She broke over 20 bones at home. |
| C．She was involved in a car accident. | D．She was helped by a drunken driver. |
| A．The blanket might get burnt by gas. | B．The blanket might get dirty by mud. |
| C．The blanket might get broken by the car. | D．The blanket might get dirty by her blood. |
| A．Unnecessary. | B．Grateful. | C．Indifferent. | D．Confused. |
| A．To use in case of emergencies. | B．To remind herself of the accident. |
| C．To remember the two truck drivers. | D．To keep herself warm during cold weather. |
8 . Braving the elements
On Dec.26, Gelinne, 60, was looking out the back windows of his home at the frozen lake. Then an airplane came into his sight. Gelinne looked up just in time to see that small air plane a few hundred yards away, losing control.
As the plane disappeared behind the trees, Gelinne, a former Navy officer, realized it was going to land in the lake. He flashed on a moment from more than 20 years earlier: Gelinne was at work in a bank. When a fire alarm rang, he escaped from the chaos but has always wondered if he could have stayed inside and helped.
On this day, Gelinne didn’t hesitate. He ran down to the waterfront. The plane had skidded (侧滑) to a stop on the broad, frozen lake, far from shore. It was now sinking. The pilot was standing on the wing. Gelinne knew from his Navy training that even a few minutes in the icy water could kill the pilot.
Gelinne tested the ice with his foot and decided not to take any chances walking on it. So he pulled a boat out from under his back deck.
Then he set off, pushing his boat across the ice. It was tough work. When Gelinne reached the plane, it had broken through the ice and sunk; only its tail was visible. The pilot was standing on a tail wing, submerged up to his chest, surrounded by open water. Gelinne pushed his boat off the ice and into the water, paddling (划) toward the pilot.
Gelinne focused on keeping the pilot calm, joking, “Just hang on to the boat as if you were hugging your wife.” The pilot grabbed the boat’s bow, but Gelinne knew he had to get the pilot out of the water and up onto the shelf of unbroken ice behind him before the man lost too much body heat.
By now a police officer had arrived and radioed for help. A lifeboat appeared, breaking through ice as it arrived. It picked up the pilot and rushed him to safety. Later the boat returned to help Gelinne, now extremely tired, to shore.
“I’m 60 years old,” Gelinne says. “There was no way I could get him to shore.” Still, he was satisfied he’d gone the right way that day.
1. Why did Gelinne run outside without hesitation?| A．He had rescucing experience. | B．He wanted to offer help in time. |
| C．He needed more time to prepare. | D．He was amazed at what had happened. |
| A．He made a call to the police. | B．He got the pilot out of the water. |
| C．He asked the pilot to grasp the bow. | D．He picked up the pilot onto the shore. |
| A．generous | B．brave | C．curious | D．strict |
| A．Think twice before action. |
| B．One good turn deserves another. |
| C．It’s never too late to make things right. |
| D．One should always be ready to seize chances. |
9 . Peter, 60, loved his job as a bus driver. He had been one almost all his life, loving the little children who rode his bus daily. It made him feel much younger. His record was clean, without one accident, which made him a trustworthy driver.
However, Mr. Clark, Peter’s boss, was worried and thought that it was time for him to retire (退休). “You don’t have a choice here, Peter.” he said seriously. “We don’t want to invite any risk to the children.”
“But I have a perfect record,” reasoned Peter. “You know, for an elderly man like me, my job is the only thing that keeps me alive. I want to keep my job.”
“Would you take responsibility if something bad happened to those children?” Mr. Clark said.
Peter thought it over, and very reluctantly, he gave in to Mr. Clark’s request. Peter decided to retire a week later.
The day before his last day, Peter was dropping of the kids at his first stop when he looked out of the window and saw a lady who had passed out. He asked the kids not to leave the bus and got down to help the woman.
Just when he finished, he heard cries behind him. The children were looking out of the window and shouting. “Fire! Fire! Help!” “How could that have happened?” Peter was shaking in fear. With shaking hands, Peter dialed 911 and rushed to help the children. Covering himself with his jacket, Peter rushed into the burning car and took the children out one by one. Thankfully, the firefighters arrived soon and helped Peter, saving all students.
The next day, Peter found the whole school standing in front of his home. When Peter got close to them, Mr. Clark started clapping and everyone joined him. “You are a hero, Peter! You saved the lives of those young children.” he said. “You are the best driver. We hope you can keep the job!”
1. What made Mr. Clark worried?| A．He couldn’t talk Peter into retiring. |
| B．Taking school bus was unsafe for children. |
| C．Peter was too old to be a school bus driver. |
| D．The school bus driver must be changed actually. |
| A．Angrily. | B．Unwillingly. | C．Doubtfully. | D．Cheerfully. |
| A．They were caught in the burning bus. |
| B．They couldn’t find Peter on the bus. |
| C．They were frightened by the woman. |
| D．They didn’t want a new school bus driver. |
| A．Putting Out the Fire | B．A Dangerous Bus Journey |
| C．Working After Retirement | D．An Old Hero Driver |
10 . After an evening of overtime work with her colleagues at the office, Jill Bien, 48, boarded a bus bound for Chicago, where she lived. About 35 miles into the 90-mile trip, Jill felt the bus drive away onto the right shoulder(路肩)of 1-94．The bus scraped(擦挂)a concrete barrier，and then turned back into traffic.
“Stop the bus!” Jill yelled to the driver from her seat just behind him. But then she saw his seat was empty. The driver, James Rogers, 68, lay unconscious in the bus’s step. “Call 911!”Jill screamed, and with the bus rushing in and out of traffic at about 60 mph in an uncontrollable way, she leaped into the driver’s seat and grabbed the wheel.
“My life flashed before my eyes,” Jill says now. “Everyone on the bus was bouncing around; they were lying in the aisle (过道).I thought, I don’t want anybody to get hurt.” Jill carefully turned the bus onto the shoulder, bringing it to a stop.
“Thank God she got that bus over to the side“ says Marge Borkowski, who was a passenger that night. “She’s my hero.” Emergency personnel arrived a few minutes later and took11 of the bus’s 34 passengers to the hospital, where doctors treated them for minor injuries. When Jill returned home after the accident, she burst out crying, she says. “I kept visualizing(眼前浮现)it.”
Despite anxiety and injuries, Jill boarded a bus back to the office two days later. “I didn’t want my fear to build up,” she said. Kenosha County policeman Dan Ruth, who was at the scene of the accident, told reporters he hadn’t witnessed an act more heroic than Jill’s in his 18 years on the job. “It could have been much, much worse,” he says.
1. Where was Jill Bien going on the bus after overtime work?| A．To the airport. |
| B．To her home in Chicago. |
| C．To the police station. |
| D．To the hospital in Las Vegas. |
| A．Her own life. |
| B．The bus’s problem. |
| C．The passengers’ safety. |
| D．The driver’s condition. |
| A．She still felt frightened with worry. |
| B．She enjoyed the thrilling experience. |
| C．She was proud of what she had done. |
| D．She was relieved to get minor injuries. |
| A．overreacting to the accident |
| B．lucky to have survived the accident |
| C．a model of courage and selflessness |
| D．a troublemaker and causes the accident |
