I am an outdoor lover and I’ve made it a routine to explore different regions annually with a friend during our vacation. This year, in addition to beauty of nature, I’ve experienced something more.
It was late afternoon. A few hours before sunset, Darcy and I decided to hike to Acomat Falls, hidden in the rainforest.
Expecting to spend no more than an hour at the falls, we wore T-shirts and swimsuits and hadn’t told anyone where we were going. After crossing the wide river at a shallow spot and walking upstream about 100 yards, we reached the falls at around 4 pm. We dived into the green pool and floated on our backs, amazed at the canyon(峡谷) walls.
By 4:30, Darcy reminded me that we needed to head back to the car before dark, but I was waist-deep in the river trying to photograph the falls, the hanging vines(葡萄藤), and the dreaminess of the place. Darcy had to wait on a stone. I finally took a good photo—and then she screamed.
With a crack like thunder, a violent wall of water rushed over the falls, turning the dreamy swimming pool into a churning(旋涡的) monster. Flash flood! I jumped out of the river seconds before the flood crashed over the spot where I’d just been standing. Darcy climbed barefoot off toward higher ground. Darcy and I climbed up the canyon on all fours, grabbing vines to pull ourselves up. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the water had risen 20 feet in less than a minute.
Darcy led us through the dense bush, prickly trees, and ankle-deep mud. After we’d climbed 200 feet, we stopped to catch our breath. Now we had a different problem: The road was on the other side of the swollen river. We were stuck in the forested mountain.
We had no rain jackets and were exhausted from the climb. Darcy asked if I had my phone. It was soaking wet, but still blinked on. No service. We decided to move toward higher ground to get a better signal. It was almost dark. For a moment, I got through, and I heard the faint voice of Grace, our rental host. She said she’d call for help. Then the phone went silent—no signal again.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。
It seemed that we were in a desperate situation.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Trapped there, we wondered whether and how rescuers could find us.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a hot day. The sun scorched (炙烤) down and everywhere you looked, you could see the heat waves blowing above the sand. John rolled over, realizing that half of his body was well and truly burnt. He had not meant to sleep in the sun but the heat and late nights studying for his examinations made him miserable. Stretching, he got to his feet, picked up his surfboard and looked around. The beach, which had earlier been crowded in the sun, was now comparatively empty. Seagulls flew down to clean up the food of people’s picnic lunches.
The ice-cream van had gone, and so were the lifeguards who were doing first aid on the beach. John looked up to where the sun was and estimated it was about five o’clock. Time to head home. It was “Mum’s Kitchen Rule” that had him moving homewards. If he did not get home in time for dinner, he would go hungry. Wandering along the water’s edge, he happened to glance out to sea. What made him look up at that particular moment, he never knew, but it was the right time for the swimmer he spotted. His hand was up, signaling distress (险情) and he was calling out something.
Quickly John glanced around the beach — no one else was close enough to help the man, and crucially, no one had noticed. Cupping his hands to his mouth, he shouted “Help” to get the attention of other people on the beach. Someone waved back to him and John pointed to the swimmer. “Get help,” he shouted. Then without hesitation, he jumped into the sea with his surfboard. John was a strong swimmer and had a good skill for distance swimming. His coach had tried hard to persuade him to go into competitions but he was not interested.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Now he was swimming for more than enjoyment or medals.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Fortunately, the sea was not rough and there was no wave.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
