1 . The big fire inside her flat did not stop the brave grandmother. The 70-year-old only had thoughts of saving her mentally-unsound son as she dashed right into the sea of fire.
The fire happened in the morning at an apartment block in Hong Kong. The grandmother, identified as Madam Guan, had gone for Mandarin lessons at her local community centre. When she returned home at around 10 a.m., she heard her neighbors calling for the firefighters the moment she stepped out of the lift.
When Madam Guan realized it was her flat that was on fire, she got frightened. Inside the flat was her second son Mr. Feng, diagnosed with depression when he was 15 and also with problems with his vision.
Guessing that her son was probably trapped in the fire, Madam Guan rushed into the flat even though it was already covered in smoke. She found him moving on the floor of his room, with his face and hands badly burnt. She quickly helped her son up and half-carried him as they made their escape.
The firefighters arrived soon after and put out the fire. Mr. Feng was later sent to the hospital, with 20 percent burns on his body. Madam Guan was unhurt. Mr. Feng is the only child still living with her since her husband died more than 10 years ago. Mr. Feng is jobless, preferring to stay in his room.
After the fire was put out, she was reportedly so distraught upon seeing the scene.
“I’ve really lost everything this time.”
The fire at her flat is believed to have been caused by a short circuit(电路).
1. When did Madam Guan realize her house caught fire?| A．When she went for her lessons. |
| B．At about 10:00 p.m. |
| C．After she stepped out of the lift. |
| D．When she saw her son moving on the floor. |
| A．liked to work at home |
| B．had been ill for many years |
| C．was only injured a little |
| D．often stayed at home alone |
| A．20 percent of Mr. Feng’s face was badly burned. |
| B．Madam Guan’s house was seriously destroyed. |
| C．With the firefighters’ help Mr. Feng escaped from the fire. |
| D．When found, Mr. Feng was finding his glasses. |
| A．worried | B．angry | C．happy | D．disappointed |
| A．A Brave Grandmother in a Big Fire |
| B．A Big Fire |
| C．A Lucky Escape |
| D．Granny, 70, Rescues Son from Burning Flat |
2 . Those with closed minds refused to consider any contradictory facts, and they proceed with their planned course of action, full speed ahead, with their “minds made up” and tightly shut. As an illustration, consider the situation in 1986, prior to the space shuttle Challenger’s disatrous launch that killed all seven astronauts aboard, there was a heated telephone debate between two engineers from the company that produced the shuttle booster rockets and the top officials of NASA (the federal government’s space agency). The engineers insisted that the flight was too risky because of freezing temperature at the Florida launch site. They explained that some of the seals on the fuel tanks were not designed to withstand such low temperatures and might leak under pressure, thus endangering the craft and crew.
Despite the pleas to stop the flight, officials at NASA overruled the engineers, who were best qualified to make judgments about the complex technical problems of space flight. What caused the officials to ignore the engineers? Several flights had already been postponed, and it would not look good to postpone another. It would be bad public relations to disappoint the crowds of people and news reporters waiting for the launch. Top government officials were ready to appear on the national television and take the credit for another safe flight. As a result, with their minds absolutely closed to the facts presented by the engineers, NASA officials ordered the Challenger to take off. Seventy-three seconds later, the spacecraft was enveloped in flame.
Incredibly, seventeen years later, the lesson of the Challenger disaster was repeated. In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart while re-entering the earth’s atmosphere, killing another crew of seven. During the shuttle’s liftoff, a piece of foam insulation(泡沫隔热材料) had broken off, hitting the shuttle's wing at five hundred miles per hour. Lower-level engineers at NASA begged for photographs of the Columbia in orbit, which might have shown the extent of the damage, but their closed-minded superiors ignored their requests. It was the damage caused by the 1.7 pound chunk of insulation that doomed the Columbia.
There is no virtue in ignoring contradictory facts and “sticking to your guns” when the course taken shows all the signs of being the wrong one. Closed minds are especially noticeable in political campaigns and debates. Many people line up to support one candidate or another and won’t listen to any facts presented by the opposing candidate.
All those with an open mind say is this: “I don’t know everything, so I’d better keep my mind, eyes, and ears open to any new facts that may come along.” The world would be a much better and safer place if everyone had this attitude.
1. Which of the following brought about the disastrous launch of the Challenger?| A．Its crew | B．The engineers |
| C．The fuel tanks’ seals | D．The size of its rocket |
| A．postponed the flight at once. |
| B．made judgments about the complex technical problems. |
| C．announced the news on national television. |
| D．ordered to launch the Challenger as scheduled. |
| A．The Columbia disaster was impossible to foresee. |
| B．Engineers were to blame for the Columbia’s explosion. |
| C．The Columbia disaster could have been avoided. |
| D．The Columbia was deliberately damaged. |
| A．Holding firm to your own opinion. |
| B．Remaining and firing your gun at enemies. |
| C．Strengthening your status. |
| D．Keeping an open mind. |
| A．To inform readers about what an open mind is. |
| B．To entertain readers with two stories of tragedies in space. |
| C．To persuade readers to keep an open mind. |
| D．To criticize what NASA officials had done in aerospace history. |
| A．By stating arguments. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By explaining statistical data. | D．By providing research result. |
3 . Maybe ten-year-old Elizabeth put it best when she said to her father. “But, Dad, you can’t be healthy if you’re dead.”
Dad, in a hurry to get home before dark so he could go for a run, had forgotten to wear his safety belt — a mistake 11.5% of the US population make every day, according to a survey in 2015.
The percentage doesn’t seem so bad, but the big question is why still so many people ignore it when every day there are reports about car accidents and casualties (a death toll of 37461 in 2016 ).
There have been many myths about safety belts ever since their first appearance in cars some forty years ago. The following are three of the most common.
Myth Number One: It’s best to be “thrown clear”of a serious accident.
Truth: Sorry, but any accident serious enough to “throw you clear”is also going to be serious enough to give you a very bad landing. And chances are you’ll have traveled through a windshield (挡风玻璃) or door to do it. Studies show that chances of dying after a car accident are twenty-five times greater in cases where people are “thrown clear.”
Myth Number Two: Safety belts “trap”people in cars that are burning or sinking in water.
Truth: Sorry again. but studies show that people knocked unconscious (昏迷) due to not wearing safety belts have a greater chance of dying in these accidents People wearing safety belts are usually protected to the point of having a clear head to free themselves from such dangerous situations, not to be trapped in them.
Myth Number Three: Safety belts aren’t needed at speeds of less than 30 miles an hour (mph).
Truth: When two cars traveling at 30 mpb hit each other, an unbelted driver would meet the windshield with a force equal to diving headfirst into the ground from a height of 10 meters.
1. Why did Elizabeth say to her father “But, Dad, you can’t be healthy if you’re dead”?| A．He was driving at great speed. |
| B．He was running across the street. |
| C．He didn’t have his safety belt on. |
| D．He didn’t take his medicine on time. |
| A．wasn’t feeling very well |
| B．hated to drive in the dark |
| C．wanted to take some exercise |
| D．didn’t want to be caught by the police |
| A．may be knocked down by other cars |
| B．may get seriously hurt being thrown out of the car |
| C．may find it impossible to get away from the seat |
| D．may get caught in the car door |
| A．the belt prevents them escaping in an accident |
| B．they will be unable to think clearly in an accident |
| C．they will be caught when help comes |
| D．cars catch fire easily |
| A．Never drive faster than 30 mile an hour. |
| B．Try your best to save yourself in a car accident. |
| C．Never forget to wear the safety belt while driving. |
| D．Drive slowly while you’re not wearing a safety belt. |
