Police were sent out to keep the traffic ________ smoothly during the snowstorm.

     A. being run           B. run             C. to run        D. running

XI’AN---Seven people died in a fire early on Wednesday morning in Xi’an, capital of Shanxi Province. A restaurant with a karaoke hall in the southern suburbs caught fire around 2 a. m. and seven waitresses who were sleeping on the second floor of the restaurant were killed. The restaurant was completely destroyed and the waitresses, the local police said, were killed by toxic smoke from burning decorations.

MANILA---Four people were killed yesterday in the central Philippine island of Tacloban when a bomb they had dug up exploded, local police were quoted as saying. The four people were digging to set up a septic（poisonous）tank in their house when they dug up the bomb. It went off, killing all four people, local police were quoted by radio station DZBB as saying. The police did not say where the bomb came from. Unexploded bombs from World War II are still discovered around the Philippines once in a while.

TEL AVIV---An Israeli couple kissed for 30 hours and 45 minutes which, a spokeswoman said yesterday, was a world record. The couple, both in their twenties, started kissing on Monday at 8:30 p.m. along with 250 other couples in a contest. “For nearly 31 hours they didn’t eat, drink, talk or even go to the bathroom. And the whole time, they were standing up”, said Arielle Goldman, who handled public relations for the event. She said a representative of the Guinness Book of World Records was on hang to witness the event, recorded on video. The previous record was 29 hour and 37 minutes, Goldman said. The winning couple received two round-the-world plane tickets and $2,500. (277 words)

1.Which of the following statements is right?

2. The underlined word “toxic” means _____.

3. The Israeli couple kissed for nearly 31 hours_____.

4.Why did so many couples take part in the contest?

Shortly after the accident,two        police were sent to the spot to keep order.

A.dozen of                   B.dozens                      C.dozen                        D.dozens of

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　　Kidnappers(绑架者) are rarely interested in animals, but they recently took considerable interest in Mrs. Eleanor Ramsay's cat . Mrs. Eleanor Ramsay, a very wealthy old lady, has shared a flat with her cat, Rastus, for a great many years. Rastus leads an orderly life. He usually takes a short walk in the evenings and is always home by seven o'clock. One evening, however, he failed to arrive. Mrs . Eleanor Ramsay got very worried . She looked everywhere for him but could not find him.

　　Three days after Rastus' disappearance .Mrs . Eleanor Ramsay received an anonymous( = nameless) letter. The writer stated that Rastus was in safe hands and would be returned immediately if Mrs. Eleanor Ramsay paid a ransom( = sum of money) of ￡1000. Mrs. Eleanor Ramsay was instructed to place the money in a cardboard box and to leave it out side her door. At first, she decided to go to the police, but fearing that she would never see Rastus again, the letter had made that quite clear. She changed her mind. She drew ￡1000 from her bank and followed the kidnapper's instructions. The next morning, the box had disappeared but Mrs. Ramsay was sure that kidnapper would keep his word. Sure enough, Rastus arrived punctually at seven o'clock that evening . He looked very well, though he was rather thirsty, for he drank half a bottle of milk. The police were greatly surprised when Mrs. Ramsay told them what she had done. She explained that Rastus was very dear to her. Considering the amount she said, he was dear in more ways than one!

1．Some kidnappers took considerable interest in Mrs. Ramsay's cat because ________.

[　　]

A．Mrs. Ramsay could and would pay a lot to get her only companion back

B．Mrs. Ramsay clearly loved her cat to have kept him so long

C．Rastus was an orderly cat and would be easy to look after if kidnapped

D．Mrs. Ramsay missed her cat whenever he was not back home on time

2．On what conditions did the kidnapper promise the safe return of Rastus?

[　　]

A．His name was not to be revealed and he wanted a ransom of ￡ 1000.

B．Mrs. Ramsay was not to inform the police and had to pay ￡ 1000.

C．Mrs. Ramsay had to leave her flat until the box with the money had gone.

D．Mrs. Ramsay was to draw ￡ 1000 from her bank and follow his instructions.

3．How was Rastus dear to Mrs. Ramsay in more ways than one?

[　　]

A．She was very fond of him and it had cost her a lot to get him back.

B．Besides the high ransom paid for him he drank a lot of milk

C．He was so dear that she had not dared tell the police of the kidnapping.

D．He was very valuable and she valued him greatly.

4．Mrs. Eleanor Ramsay is a very wealthy lady who ________ a flat with her cat Rastus, for a great many years.

[　　]

5．She searched for him but could not find him ________

[　　]

A Swedish man was dug out alive after being snowed in his car on a forest track for two months with no food, police and local media reported on Saturday.
The 45-year-old from southern Sweden was found on Friday, February17, too weak to say more than a few words.
He was found not far from the city of Umea in the north of Sweden by snowmobilers who thought they had come across a ruined car until they dug their way to a window and saw movement inside.
The man, who was lying in the back seat in a sleeping bag, said he had been in the car since December 19.
“Just incredible that he’s alive considering that he had no food, but also since it’s been really cold for some time after Christmas.” a rescue team member told regional daily Vasterbottens- Kuriren, which broke the news.
Ebbe Nyberg, duty officer at the Umea police, said police saw no reason to doubt that the man had been stuck in the car for a very long time.
“We would not make up something like this. The rescue services were on site too and saw the same as us.” he told Vasterbottens-Kuriren.
Umea University Hospital, where the man is recovering after being rescued by police and a rescue team, said in a statement he was doing well considering the circumstances.
Doctors at the hospital said humans would normally be able to survive for about four weeks without food. Besides eating snow, the man probably survived by going into a dormant-like(休眠似的）state, physician Stefan Branth told Vasterbottens-Kuriren.
“A bit like a bear that hibernates. Humans can do that.” he said. “He probably had a body temperature of around 31 degrees which the body adjusted to. Due to the low temperature, not much energy was used up.”
“Why the man ended up under the snow in the forest remains unknown,” police said.
【小题1】Who found the Swedish man in the snow?