Fear is a fact of life everyone faces from time to time. In most cases fear is a healthy reaction to a dangerous situation. But sometimes fear can be so extreme, so overwhelming that it interferes with normal living. That is what happened to me driving cross-country last summer.

I’d agreed to help my brother, Mac, move from the East Coast to California. He would drive a rental truck loaded with his belongings and I would follow him in his sedan, then fly back. We figured it would be a simple trip, with four or five motel ( 摩托旅馆 ) stops along the way.

Living and working in coastal Georgia for most of my life, I didn’t have a great deal of long-distance driving experience. Looking back on it today, I can see that I’d always felt a twinge of fear when driving over small bridges and along hilly highways. And as I was getting ready for the trip I had a vague (模糊的)concern about the steep mountain roads that lay ahead. But I thought I would get used to them.

As we crossed some high bridges near the Blue Ridge Mountains on the first leg of our trip, a kind of breathlessness gripped（抓住）me, a sinking, rolling sensation in the pit of my stomach. I tended to veer slightly away from the edge of the roadway and the drop-off beyond. My knuckles(手指关节) whitened from my tense grip on the steering wheel. At the end of each bridge, a great rush of relief would come over me, only to be replaced in short order by fear of the next obstacle.

When we stopped in Nashville the first night, I mentioned my feelings to Mac, who is the practical sort. “Oh, that’s nothing,” he said cheerfully. Lots of people hate driving on mountain roads and high bridges. Just turn up the music on your radio and focus on that. Keep your mind occupied.”

1．Which is Not the author’s attitude towards fear?

       A．Fear can sometimes disturb your life.

       B．It is natural to feel fear in everyday life.

       C．In dangerous situations, fear may do good to your body.

       D．Whenever you feel fear, you are likely to make a wrong decision.

2．How did the author and his brother go to California?

  A．They rented a truck and drove it in turn.

  B．The author and his brother drove different vehicles.

  C．The author drove while his brother flew to California.

  D．The author drove a rented car while his brother drove the truck.

3．To the author the trip is ___________.

  A．frightening         B．pleasant               C．nervous             D．exhausting

4．Mac asked his brother to turn on the radio and focus on that in order to let him _______.

  A．keep using his brains             

  B．kill time during the long trip

  C．think of other things instead of fear

      D．enjoy the beautiful music along the way