CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) April 24, 2006—Three explosions shook the Egyptian Sinai resort of Dahab on Monday, killing 23 people and wounding dozens of others, rescue and security officials said.

Witnesses said smoke billowed^① up from the town’s tourist bazaar, and residents said they saw body parts and debris^② on the street after an explosion at a restaurant.

People in the small beach and diving resort, which is popular with backpackers, described scenes of carnage^③ and chaos^④.

A cafe worker who was about 200 meters (yards) from the scene said: “We saw many dead people. People were screaming. People were being taken to hospital. Egyptians went to give blood. There were body parts. There’s police everywhere.”

“There are ambulances and cars taking people to hospital,” said another resident, who also did not want to be named.

The explosions took place at the Nelson Restaurant, the Aladdin Cafeteria and the Ghazala Supermarket, the Interior Ministry said.

The explosions took place in quick succession at about 7.15 p.m. (1715 GMT). “There is smoke coming from the area and there are people running everywhere,” said one witness, who heard the blasts.

An official with the local ambulance service said many of the dead appeared to be foreigners.

Israeli divers often stay in the resort but with the Passover holiday over it is unlikely many were there. The Israeli ambassador in Cairo and Israeli authorities said they did not know of any Israeli casualties^⑤.

One visitor said police were stopping cars and buses leaving the resort and had imposed restrictions on movements in and out of backpacker camps in the area.

It was the third set of three explosions on the eastern coast of the Sinai peninsula since October 2004, when a group attacked the Hilton hotel in the border resort of Taba and two other resorts on the northeast coast, killing 34 people.

Notes:

① billow  v.  翻腾

② debris  n.  残骸

③ carnage  n.  残杀，流血

④ chaos  n.  混乱

⑤ casualty  n. （人员）伤亡

What’s the result of the explosions in Dahab?

        A. 34 people were killed.

        B. There were many Israeli casualties.

        C. 23 people were killed and dozens of others were injured.

        D. Many houses were burned to the ground.

How many places did the explosions take place in?

        A. Two      B. Three      C. Six      D. Eight

What does the underlined word “resort” mean?

        A. popular holiday centre      B. hotel or guest-house for holidaymakers

        C. visiting some place         D. Making use of something for help

Which of the following statements is right?

        A. Many of the dead appeared to be residents.

        B. The first set of three explosions took place in October 2004.

        C. Police couldn’t know what to do.

        D. Israeli divers stayed in the resort with the Passover holiday over.

Even at school there had been an unhealthy competition between George and Richard.

“I’ll be the first millionaire in Coleford!” Richard used to boast(自吹自擂).

“And you’ll be sorry you knew me,” George would reply “because I’ll be the best lawyer in town!”

George never did become a lawyer and Richard never made any money. Instead both men opened bookshops on opposite sides of Coleford High Street. It was hard to make money from books, which made the competition between them worse.

Then Richard married a mysterious girl. The couple spent their honeymoon on the coast—but Richard never came back. The police found his wallet on a deserted beach but the body was never found. He must have drowned.

Now with only one bookshop in town, business was better for George. But sometimes he sat in his narrow, old kitchen and gazed out of the dirty window, thinking about his former rival(竞争对手). Perhaps he missed him?

George was very interested in old dictionaries. He’d recently found a collector in Australia who was selling a rare first edition. When the parcel(包裹) arrived, the book was in perfect condition and George was delighted. But while he was having lunch, George glanced at the photo in the newspaper that the book had been wrapped in. He was astonished—the smiling face was older than he remembered but unmistakable! Trembling, George started reading.

“Bookends have bought ten bookstores from their rivals Dylans. The company, owned by multi-millionaire Richard Pike, is now the largest bookseller in Australia.”

1.George and Richard were ________ at school.

2. How did George feel about Richard after his disappearance?

3. George got information about Richard from ________.

4.What happened to George and Richard in the end?

Violent winds swept the ocean, and waves thundered to shore, shaking the lookout tower at Pea Island Rescue Station. Surfman Theodore Meekins was on watch that evening of 11 October 1896. A hurricane had struck the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and the tide was so strong that beach patrols(巡逻)had been canceled. Still, Meekins paid close attention to the horizon. This was the type of weather that could blow ships hundreds of miles off course.
Offshore, the ship E.S. Newman was caught in the storm. The captain, whose wife and child were on the ship, feared the Newman would soon break up. He made the decision to beach his ship, then fired a signal, praying that someone onshore would see it.
Meekins, whose eyes were trained to cut through rain and surf mists, thought he saw the signal, but so much spray (水雾) covered the lookout windows that he could hardly make sure. Still, he took no chances. After summoning (召集) the station keeper, Captain Richard Etheridge, Meekins set off a coston signal, a signal made by using lamps of different colors. Together, the two men searched the darkness for a reply. A few moments later, they saw a flash of light to the south and knew a shop was in distress (遇险). Even before the return signal burned out, Etheridge had summoned his men and begun rescue operations.
For the lifesavers, the rescue of the Newman was nothing unusual. Over the years, so many ships had foundered off the Outer Banks that sailors called the region the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Noting the dangerous surf and wind conditions, Captain Etheridge quickly decided the surf boats would be impossible to control. Instead, he decided to use another way to help the survivors.
The crew set off on the long journey down the beach to the scene of the wreck (海滩). Captain Etheridge hoped to fire a line from a gun to the ship’s mast (船桅). After the ship’s crew dragged the line onboard, the surfmen would fire a second line and carry survivors safely to shore.
The surfmen crossed three miles of sand to reach the ship Newman. The water was freezing, and the men often sank up to their knees in sand. Captain Etheridge noted in his diary that “the voice of gladdened hearts greeted the arrival of the station crew,” but that “it seemed impossible for them to do anything under such circumstances. The work was often stopped by the sweeping current.”
Even when the rescue equipment proved useless, Etheridge refused to give up. Choosing two of his strongest surfmen, he tied rope lines around their waists and sent them into the water. The two men, holding a line from shore, walked with huge effort as far as they could before diving through the waves. Nearly worn out while swimming against the tide, they finally made it to the shore.
The first to be rescued were the captain’s wife and child. With the two passengers tied to their backs, the surfmen fought their way back to shore. Taking turns, Etheridge and his crew made ten trips to the Newman, saving every person onboard. It was 1:00 a.m. when the crew and survivors finally made it back to the station.
That night, as the exhausted survivors lay sleeping and his lifesaving crew rested, Captain Etheridge picked up his pen, and in the light of an oil lantern, wrote with satisfaction that all the people onboard had been saved and were “sheltered in this station”—words he would remember for many years to come.
【小题1】The beach patrols were canceled because ________.

The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever . He sent his camera crew（摄制组）out one evening to film the sunset for him .

The next morning he said to the men , “ Have you provided me with that sunset ? ”

“ No , sir . ” the men answered .

The director was angry . “ Why not ? ” he asked .

“ Well , sir , ” one of the men answered . “ we’re on the east coast here , and the sets in the west . We can get you a sunrise over the sea , if necessary , but not a sunset . ”

“ But I want a sunset ! ” the director shouted . “ Go to the airport . take the next flight to the west coast , and get one . ”

But then a young secretary had an idea . “ Why don’t you photograph a sunrise . ” she suggested . “ and then play it backwards ? Then it’ll look like a sunset . ”

The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay（海湾）. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director . “ Here it is sir . ” they said , and gave it to him . He was very pleased .

They all went into the studio（摄影棚）. “ All right . ” the director explained . “ now our hero and heroine are going to say good-bye . Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘ sunset behind them . ’ ”

The “ sunset ” began , but after a quarter of a minute , the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop .

The birds in the film were flying backwards . and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach .

1.One evening, the director sent his camera crew out       .

A. to watch a beautiful sunset             

B. to find an actor and an actress

C. to film a sunset scene on the sea       

D. to meet the audience

2.Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast ?

A. Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset .

B. Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset .

C. Because it was his secretary’s suggestion .

D. Because he was angry with his crew .

3.Which of the following is NOT true ?

A. The crew had to follow the secretary’s advice .

B. If you want to see a sunrise , the east coast is the place to go to .

C. The camera crew wasn’t able to film the scene the first day .

D. The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “ sunset ” .

4.The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because       .

A. it went well with the separation of the hero and the heroine

B. when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening

C. it was more moving than a sunrise

D. the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset

5.After the “ sunset ” began , the director suddenly put his face in his hands       .

A. because he was moved to tears

B. as he saw everything in the film moving backwards

C. as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined

D. because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and heroine

信息匹配（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）



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