题目内容

Perfect disaster

All around us buildings shook. We decided to leave the town. We stopped once we had left the buildings behind us. The carts were moving in opposite directions, though the ground was perfectly flat, and they wouldn't stay in place even with their wheels blocked by stones.

In addition, it seemed as though the sea was being sucked(吸) backwards, as if it were being pushed back by the shaking of the land. Certainly the shoreline moved outwards, and many sea animals were left on dry sand.

Behind us were frightening dark clouds that opened up to show fire-like lightening, but bigger. Not long after that the clouds reached down to the ground and covered the sea. Now came the dust, though still thin. I looked back. A dense cloud appeared behind us, following us like a flood pouring across the land. Then a darkness came that was not like a moonless or cloudy night, but more like being in a closed and unlighted room. You could hear women and children crying, men shouting. Some were calling for parents, others for children; they could only recognize them by their voices.

Darkness and ashes came again, a great weight of them. We stood up and shook the ash off again and again, otherwise we would have been covered with it and crushed by the weight.

At last the cloud became thinner and thinner until it was no more than smoke or fog. Soon there was real daylight. The sight that met our still terrified eyes was a changed world, buried in ash like snow.

                                           —from Pliny's letter to a friend

1. Pliny left the town after _____. 

A. the eruption                              B. the sky became dark

C. the buildings began shaking        D. the sea went back

2. The carts wouldn't stay still because _____.

A. the earth was shaking                            B. the sea sucked them backwards

C. the wheels had stones under them           D. the lightening frightened the horses

3. The reason why it was dark is that _____.

A. it was very late at night        B. clouds of ash covered the sun

C. there was a very bad storm     D. there was no moon that night

4. People tried to find their relations by calling out their names and      .

A. listening to their voices        B. running about looking for them

C. shaking the ash off people      D. watching people as they ran past

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To Whom It May Concern:
     Your address was forwarded to us by Why Bother Magazine. All of us here think The International
Institute
Not Doing Much is the best organization in the world. You know how to avoid unnecessary activities!
     We closely followed the advice in your article. First, we replaced all our telephones with carrier
pigeons. Simply removing the jingle of telephones and replacing them with the pleasant sounds of birds
has had a remarkable effect on everyone. Besides, birds are cheaper than telephone service. After all,
we are a business. We have to think of the bottom line. As a side benefit, the birds also fertilize the lawn
outside the new employee sauna.
     Next, we sold the computers of, to Stab, Grab, Grit, and Nasty, a firm of lawyers nearby. Our
electricity bill went way down. Big savings! The boss is impressed. We have completely embraced paper
technology. Now that we all use pencils, doodling is on the increase, and the quality of pencilwomanship
is impressive, as you can tell from my handwriting in this letter. By the way, if you can, please send this
letter back to us. We can erase and reuse it. Just tie it to Maggie's leg and she'll know where to take it.
     Now it's very calm and quiet here. You can notice the di fference. No more loud chatter on the
telephones! All we hear is the scratching of pencil on paper, the sound of pigeons, and the delivery of inter-
office correspondence by paper airplane.
     Wonderful! I've always wanted to work for an insurance company ever since I was a little girl. Now
it's perfect. 
                                                                                 Sincerely yours, 
                                                                                 Eleanor Lightly 
                                                                                 Spokeswoman and ComPany Hair Stylist 
                                                                                 ABC Activity Insurance: Insure against overdoing it
1. Where is Eleanor's letter sent to?
[     ]
A. Why Bother Magazine.
B. ABC Activity Insurance Company.
C. Stab, Grab, Grit, and Nasty Law Firm.
D. The International Institute of Not Doing Much.
2. Which of the following is practiced in the author's company?
[     ]
A. Replacing the manual work system with modern technology.
B. Turning off lights in the daytime to save electricity.
C. Recycling paper resources whenever possible.
D. Buying birds and pets as company for the staff.
3. What is true about Maggie?
[     ]
A. She works as a manager in the author's company.
B. She sometimes helps fertilize the lawn outside the sauna.
C. She often helps with inter-office correspondence using e-mail.
D. Her handwriting has improved a lot after entering the company.
4. What does it refer to in Paragraph 3? 
[     ]
A. Pencil.
B. Letter.
C. Telephone.
D. Computer.
5. Which of the following best describes the life the author is leading?
[     ]
A. A simple, slow-paced life.
B. A life of hard work and security.
C. A religious, peasant-like life.
D. A life away from paper and pencils.

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