Stranger in the Flames

On the morning of May 29, Donna left unusually early for her 5:30 a.m. work at Noone’s Restaurant. She drove along a rural road,    1    as she often did to admire the old farmhouse she passed each day. But as she looked more    2   , she saw flames on one of the porch’s(门廊) posts. Donna pulled into the driveway and honked her horn(喇叭).

No response. With flames cutting her    3    from the front entrance, she ran to a side door, which was   4   . “Wake up,” she cried, running through the house. “   5   !”

    Just hours earlier Corinne Allin had put 18-month-old Benjamin, Devon, seven, and Amy, nine, to   6   . Now, awakened by the shouts, she stumbled(踉跄) down the steps into a    7    and saw the fire immediately. “My children , my husband ---they’re   8    upstairs,” Corinne said.

    “I’ll get them,” Donna said. “Call 911.”

    Donna    9    her way up the stairs through the    10   . While Hugh Allin went to see if he could put the fire    11    with the hose(水管), Devon dashed into Amy’s room. “Get up,” he cried. Amy lifted Benjamin from his bed. With windows exploding and smoke surrounding them, they made their way out of the    12   door.

In the disorder that followed, Donna slipped away to work. Passing the blackened house that evening, she stopped and left a note. Later that night the Allin family paid a    13   . Corinne explained that the fire began when she pressed out a    14    in a potted plant on the front porch. “But thanks to you,” she said with tears in her eyes, “we’re    15   .”

1. A. speeding B. slowingC. getting off    D. going out

2. A. closely    B. quietly        C. proudly   D. tightly

3. A. up      B. in          C. around       D. off

4. A. closed    B. open        C. locked       D. unlocked

5. A. Fire      B. Help      C. Hello        D. Come on

6. A. bed      B. desk      C. playground   D. school

7.A. room     B. heat      C. stranger   D. street

8.A. already    B. just     C. still        D. even

9.A. found    B. stepped   C. made       D. moved

10A. flames    B. smoke        C. rubbish    D. ashes

11.A. out      B. down       C. up       D. over

12.A. room    B. back      C. front        D. side

13.A. bill      B. visit      C. look          D. part

14.A. match    B. wood       C. cigarette  D. oven

15.A. free     B. awake        C. alive   &ntbs?p;  D. successful

When I was at University I studied very hard. But a lot of my friends did very little work. Some did just enough to pass exams. Others didn’t do quite enough. Fred Baines was one of them. He spent more time playing than working in the library.
Once at the end of the term, we had to take an important test in chemistry. The test had a hundred questions. Beside each question we had to write “True” or “False”. While I was studying in my room the night before the test, Fred was watching TV. Fred usually worried a lot the night before a test. But on that night he looked perfectly calm. Thenhe told me of his plan. “It’s very simple. There are a hundred questions and I have to get fifty correct to pass the test. I’ll just toss(掷)the coin to decide the answers. That way, I’m sure I’ll get half the questions right.”
The next day, Fred came happily into the exam room. As he sat tossing a coin for half an hour he marked down his answers. Then he left, half an hour before the rest of us.
The next day, he saw the chemistry professor in the corridor. “Oh, good,” he said to the teacher, “Have you got the result of the test?” The teacher reached into his pocket and took out a coin. He threw it into the air, caught it in his hand and looked at it.
“I’m terribly sorry, Fred,” he said, “You failed!”
【小题1】This story mainly wants to tell us          .

A.chemistry is really hard to learn
B.there are many questions for students to prepare.
C.good exam results really need studying hard
D.tossing a coin can not always decide the result
【小题2】Fred Baines was one of those who          .
A.did just enough to pass an exam
B.didn’t work hard enough for their studies
C.had more important work to do than study
D.were quite good at passing exams
【小题3】Fred came happily into the exam room because          .
A.he had got ready for the exam
B.he knew the answers already
C.one excellent student would help him
D.he had his special way to finish the exam
【小题4】Which of the following about the chemistry exam is TRUE?
A.The chemisty exam was not very difficult at all.
B.It in fact took an hour to finish the chemisty exam
C.The chemisty exam had more than one hundred questions.
D.The chemisty exam needed to be done by tossing a coin.
【小题5】The professor tossed a coin to tell Baines that          .
A.he was satisfied with Baines’ way for the exam
B.he wanted to make friends with Baines
C.Baines’ way for the exam would never work
D.the exam result depended on the coin

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