On August 26, 1999, New York City was struck by a terrible rainstorm. The rain caused the streets to  1  and the underground system almost came to a stop.

    Unluckily this happened during the  2   rush hour. Many people who were going to work were  3 to go home. Some tried their best to   4   a taxi or to get on a bus. Still others   5   the storm bravely, walking miles to get to work.

    I happened to be one of the people on the way to work that morning. I went from underground line to underground line only to find that most  6  had stopped. After making my way through crowds of people, I finally found an underground line that was   7 . Unluckily, there were so many people waiting to   8 the underground that I could not even get down the stairs to the   9 . So I took the train going in the  10   direction, and then turned back to the downtown(市中心）train. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the train   11   my stop. Then I had to walk several blocks in the heavy rain. When I finally got to my office, I was   12   through, tired and discouraged.

     My co-workers and I spent most of the day drying off. When it was 5:00 pm，I was ready to go home. I was going to  13 off my computer when I received an e-mail from Garth, my Director:

I would like to thank all of you who made the  14  and finally came to work. It is always reassuring (令人欣慰的), at times like these, when workers so clearly show their attention and devotion to their   15 Thank you.

1  A. break              B. flood              C. fall                D. crash

2  A. afternoon     B. evening       C. morning           D. night

3  A. made             B. asked          C. invited           D. gathered

4  A. order              B. pay             C. call               D. search

5  A. showed      B. fought            C. broke            D. faced

6  A. practice            B. order           C. process           D. service

7  A. working            B. acting             C. turning             D. rushing

8  A. check             B. get on          C. jump into        D. find

9  A. street              B. ground           C. floor             D. road

10  A. different          B. opposite         C. changed           D. right

11  A. stopped           B. crossed          C. reached            D. parked

12  A. wet              B. hungry           C. angry            D. cold

13  A. pay              B. get                  C. turn            D. put

14  A. rule              B. effort               C. promise          D. model

15  A. computers       B. lives                 C. actions                  D. jobs

 He fell asleep ______.

A. before the meeting will begin       B. since the meeting began

C. while he was at the meeting        D. when it is 10:00