1 . The night the Titanic sank
From a high place on the ship, Fred Fleet, who worked on the Titanic, saw the iceberg just a few hundred metres a way. He rang the bell to warn the people to stop the ship.
Soon after midnight, the crew of the Californian saw rockets going up into the sky from the Titanic. Their captain said, “Fireworks!
At 2:20 am on April 15th the Titanic finally sank. Another ship, the Carpathia, heard the Titanic's last call for help.
| A．The accident happened at about 11:40 pm. |
| B．Everyone was very proud of the Titanic. |
| C．The passengers of the Titanic are having a party. |
| D．It was 58 miles away, but it raced to help the ship. |
| E．But it was travelling too fast to stop, and it hit the iceberg. |
| F．Before the accident, the Titanic had received an ice warning. |
| G．A lot of people stayed on the ship instead of trying to escape. |
It was a very hot afternoon. My friend Leah and I were waiting for the rush hour train. We were tired and couldn’t wait to get back to the place where we were living.
When the train arrived, we got into the second carriage from the front. The air-conditioning wasn’t working at the rear (后部), so the front was particularly crowded that day. I sat by the window admiring the changing landscape.
Suddenly we felt enormous pressure pushing us backwards into our seats. The windows broke into tiny pieces and dust flew around violently. I could barely open my eyes.
The train was suffering from a crash, and it didn’t feel as if it were going to stop. I thought I would be dead. I thought about my husband Guy, who was supposed to receive the news first. I thought of my dear father and other family members, wondering how each would deal with my death.
Voices began to break through my thoughts. People were anxious. Strangely, I was totally calm. I wasn’t panicking; my heart wasn’t even beating fast. When the train finally stopped, we slowly stood up, pushing off the table that had fallen onto us; others stayed in their seats and many were injured and covered in blood. I could hear screaming. A soldier pushed the damaged door open for us to escape.
Our carriage had run out of rails and we were halfway home. We had a lot of blood on us and I searched my body for wounds, but I didn’t find any. My knees felt painful and my hips were black and blue, and Leah had her hand cut when jumping off the train, but that wasn’t serious.
Helicopters landed and we saw soldiers running in and out. All around us were ambulances (救护车) and people lying on the ground. Everyone was shouting for help. I rang Guy, who was very calm and said he would come and get us. Seeing all these brought me great emotional hurt.
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It was almost dark by the time we found Guy and he drove us home.
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In the days that followed, I convinced myself I had internal bleeding.
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3 . New York factories in the early 1900s were busy and dangerous places to work. Most factories were housed in brick buildings that were overly hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter. Workers at the time often worked more than 12 hours each day, receiving few breaks and no overtime pay. The floors were crowded with people and equipment, and the doors were often locked to prevent employees from leaving early. In fact, most factory owners and managers mistreated those who asked for changes or directly fired them. The people in charge believed that they did not owe anything more than a paycheck to their workers.
Everything changed when a fire broke out at the Triangle shirtwaist factory in 1911. During that tragic event, about a quarter of the workers (mostly young immigrant women) lost their lives. The factory workers, located on the ninth floor of the building, could not get the door open. The fire escape led only to flames below. The fire truck ladders were not long enough, nor were the water hoses (水管). Fire nets were inadequate.
After the fire, people marched and protested in order to change conditions in factories. Many large protests took place in New York. Eventually, politicians took up the cause, and legislators (立法者) passed workplace laws regulating child labor and the number of workers allowed on a floor. They also called for sprinkler systems (自动喷水系统) to be placed in all factories. The rights of workers were important and valuable.
Today, working in a factory is still a demanding, difficult, and often dangerous job. The victims of the Triangle shirtwaist factory did not die in vain, however. Because of their experience, the workplace was forever changed for the better.
1. Which best explains the cause of the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire?| A．The quality of the factory building. |
| B．The lack of worker safety at the factory. |
| C．The involvement of politicians. |
| D．The inexperience of the workers. |
| A．employers were given more control |
| B．sprinkler systems were invented |
| C．many laws were passed to protect workers |
| D．factories in New York closed |
| A．The women who died were wealthy. |
| B．Factories were the best places to work. |
| C．Shirtwaists were hard to find after the fire. |
| D．The tragedy could have been avoided. |
| A．brought the reform in the working conditions |
| B．caused little damage to the factory |
| C．became a turning point for politicians |
| D．took place on the ninth floor of the building |
When the Titanic was built, people assumed it would never sink. So,
The Titanic set sail on 10 April 1912. “I had wanted to set foot on the Titanic ever since it was built,” said Molly Brown, a Titanic
Explorer Robert Ballard
On 20 December, a series of huge waves caused by
On that day, people were walking, running or simply sitting on the sandy beach, enjoying the warm sea air and the soft wind that brushed their hair
Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash Sunday in California, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people. It is known that the helicopter
Bryant was
Thousands of people gathered to remember the star outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles,
1. 简述事故经过；
2. 你的思考。
注意:
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
12 November
Dear Diary,
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A fire started inside a big store on Main Street. Mario,
“Help us!” Mario shouted. “I’m offering 1,000 dollars for putting out the fire!” In
So Mario shouted, “ We need more help
It was
About half an hour later, the fire finally died down.
“Thanks for saving my store!” Mario said pleasantly,
“Well,” the bus driver answered, “ first we will probably fix the brakes on that bus.”
9 . The phone rings. It is either for my wife Susan, who’s the only one receiving calls on the home line, or it’s the latest of 300 attempts to sell me something useless.
“Hello,” I say, an edge in my voice.
“Daddy, it’s me.” It’s Alyce, my 12-year-old daughter. “Mommy was in a car accident.”
My heart stops and then begins pounding.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“Is Mommy?”
A deep sob.
“I don’t know…I don’t think so. Come quick.”
I rush a few blocks to what looks like a shoot for a disaster movie. Fire engines, police cars, and ambulances are randomly parked in the street. A city bus is on the wrong side of the road. In front of it are the torn remains of Susan’s car.
Alyce is covered in tiny pieces of glass but uninjured. Susan isn’t so lucky. But she is alive. She has broken many bones, and spends three months in hospital.
Two years later, Susan and I were at an event at our synagogue (犹太教堂) celebrating Martin Lather King Jr. Our temple’s musical director rushed to us. “There’s a woman here tonight from one of the church choirs who you have to meet!” He returned with an African American woman. She told us she lived in the apartment building by where the accident had happened. That morning, she rushed to the street, and saw Alyce crying. She approached her, asking, “Is that your mom in there?” Alyce nodded, and the woman said, “Let's pray together.” Innocent Alyce looked at this woman wearing a cross around her neck and said, “OK, but you should know I’m Jewish (犹太人).” The woman took Alyce’s hand, held it to her chest, and said, “In here we’re all the same.”
After the accident, she said, she had continued to pray for our family.
We hugged warmly and had our picture taken together. As we were saying goodbye, realizing we had never been formally introduced, she asked me for my name. I told her it was Douglas, and she paused, and then said, “Wait, your name is Susan? And your name is Douglas?” The woman put her hand over her heart. “Oh my goodness,” she said. “My name is Susan Douglas.”
1. How did the author feel when he heard the phone ring?| A．Shocked. | B．Curious. |
| C．Annoyed | D．Frightened |
| A．She was to blame for the accident. |
| B．She called her father from the hospital. |
| C．She didn’t want to pray as she was Jewish. |
| D．She was scared and worried about her mother. |
| A．Because they had the same name. |
| B．Because they shared the same religion |
| C．Because she knew Alyce before the accident. |
| D．Because she was kind and cared about them. |
| A．A fire. | B．A flood. | C．An earthquake. |
