“Earthquake!” The word flashed in my brain. A roaring sound filled my ears . I tried to slide beneath my desk. The desk did a wild tap dance, slipping and sliding towards the centre of the room. I twisted my body and grabbed at the window sill behind me, somehow kicking free of my dancing chair. I tried to stand. My legs skated away as if on a bucking escalator.

  My fingers shook, grasped and held the window sill tightly. Somewhere through the roar sounded the terrified scream of some wounded animal. I looked behind me and tried to steady my gaze on the other kids but the scene was a dizzy nightmare. Some of the class was sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by chairs and desks. One girl was screaming. A boy was trying to claw his way across the floor to the door in a crazy overarm crawl.

  My grip froze me to the window sill.

  I cried aloud, “I’m going to die. I’m going to die. Save me, I’ m not ready to die, I’m not ready!”

  I hunched forward on my knees and pressed my face against my clenched fingers. I looked at the backs of my fingers and stupidly noticed the fragile pale hairs growing out of the pores. The fingers would soon cease to exist. Somehow the impending horror of my death was too terrible to even cry about.

  Suddenly, I became aware that the rocking had ceased. Perhaps I wasn’t going to die.

72. The roaring sound was made by ______.

A. a wounded animal           B. people screaming

C. children running            D. an earthquake

73. When the narrator clenches his fingers he is ______

A. afraid     B. angry     C. injured     D. impatient

74.Pararaph Two describes the _______.

A. injuries suffered by the narrator     B. effects of a bad nightmare

C.disorder in the classroom           D. narrator’s fear of death

75. At the end of the passage there is a felling of ______.

A. panic    B. hope     C. sorrow     D.  excitement

For six hours we shot through the landscape of the Karoo desert in South Africa. Just rocks

and sand and baking sun. Knowing our journey was ending, Daniel and I just wanted to remember all we had seen and done. He used a camera. I used words. I had already finished three notebooks and was into the fourth, a beautiful leather notebook I’d bought in a market in Mozambique.

Southern Africa was full of stories. And visions. We were almost drunk on sensations. The roaring of the water at Victoria Falls, the impossible silence of the Okavango Delta in Botswana . And then the other things: dogs in the streets, whole families in Soweto living in one room, a kilometre from clean water.

As we drove towards the setting sun, a quietness fell over us. The road was empty -- we  hadn’t seen another car for hours. And as I drove, something caught my eye, something moving   next to me. I glanced in the mirror of the car; I glanced sideways to the right, and that was when I saw them. Next to us, by the side of the road, thirty, forty wild horses were racing the car, a cloud of dust rising behind them -- brown, muscular horses almost close enough to touch them, to   smell their hot breath. I didn’t know how long they had been there next to us.

I shouted to Dan: “Look!”, but he was in a deep sleep, his camera lying useless by his feet.   They raced the car for a few seconds, then disappeared far behind us, a memory of heroic forms   in the red landscape. When Daniel woke up an hour later I told him what had happened.

“Wild horses?” he said. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I tried. But they were gone after a few seconds.”

“Are you sure you didn’t dream it?”

“You were the one who was sleeping!”

Typical, he said. “The best photos are the ones we never take.”

We checked into a dusty hotel and slept the sleep of the dead.

1. During their journey in Africa, the two travelers______.

2. What did Daniel think when he woke up and was told what had happened?

3. What is the passage mainly about?

For six hours we shot through the landscape of the Karoo desert in South Africa. Just rocks
and sand and baking sun. Knowing our journey was ending, Daniel and I just wanted to remember all we had seen and done. He used a camera. I used words. I had already finished three notebooks and was into the fourth, a beautiful leather notebook I’d bought in a market in Mozambique.
Southern Africa was full of stories. And visions. We were almost drunk on sensations. The roaring of the water at Victoria Falls, the impossible silence of the Okavango Delta in Botswana . And then the other things: dogs in the streets, whole families in Soweto living in one room, a kilometre from clean water.
As we drove towards the setting sun, a quietness fell over us. The road was empty -- we  hadn’t seen another car for hours. And as I drove, something caught my eye, something moving   next to me. I glanced in the mirror of the car; I glanced sideways to the right, and that was when I saw them. Next to us, by the side of the road, thirty, forty wild horses were racing the car, a cloud of dust rising behind them -- brown, muscular horses almost close enough to touch them, to   smell their hot breath. I didn’t know how long they had been there next to us.
I shouted to Dan: “Look!”, but he was in a deep sleep, his camera lying useless by his feet.   They raced the car for a few seconds, then disappeared far behind us, a memory of heroic forms   in the red landscape. When Daniel woke up an hour later I told him what had happened.
“Wild horses?” he said. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I tried. But they were gone after a few seconds.”
“Are you sure you didn’t dream it?”
“You were the one who was sleeping!”
Typical, he said. “The best photos are the ones we never take.”
We checked into a dusty hotel and slept the sleep of the dead.
【小题1】 During their journey in Africa, the two travelers______.

阅读理解

"Earthquake! "The word flashed in my brain. A roaring sound filled my ears. I tried to slide beneath my desk. The desk did a wild tap dance, slipping and sliding towards the center of the room. I twisted my body and grabbed at the windowsill behind me, somehow kicking free of my dancing chair. I tried to stand. My legs skated away as if on a bucking escalator.

　　 My fingers shaked, grasped and help the windowsill tightly. Somewhere through the roar sounded the terrified scream of some wounded animal. I looked behind me and tried to steady my gaze on the other kids but the scene was a dizzy nightmare. Some of the class were sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by chairs and desks. One girl was screaming. A boy was trying to claw his way across the floor to the door in a crazy overarm crawl.

　　 My grip froze me to the windowsill.

　　 I cried aloud, "I'm going to die. I'm going to die. Save me, I'm not ready to die, I'm not ready!"

　　 I hunched forward on my knees and pressed my face against my clenched fingers. I looked at the backs of my fingers and stupidly noticed the fragile pale hairs growing out of the pores. The fingers would soon cease to exist. Somehow the impending horror of my death was too terrible to even cry about.

　　  Suddenly, I became aware that the rocking had ceased. Perhaps I wasn't going to die.

1. The roaring sound was made by ________.

A. a wounded animal

B. people screaming

C. children running

D. an earthquake

2. When the narrator clenches his fingers he is ________

A. afraid

B. angry

C. injured

D. impatient

3. Paragraph 2 describes the_________

A. injuries suffered by the narrator

B. effects of a bad nightmare

C. disorder in the classroom

D. narrator's fear of death

4.At the end of the passage there is a feeling of______

  A. panic

B. hope

C. sorrow

D. excitement

Casablanca, Sep. 24

A flash flood swept across the coastal plain about 100 miles southwest of here, killing hundreds of Moroccans in a market place yesterday morning.

Reports from the area said 218 bodies had been counted, and many of the people were missing.

The flood followed heavy rains, which filled the coastal plain and dried river beds and caused them to overflow. The flood crest, several feet high, hit the village of Khemis Nagua at midmorning yesterday as farmers from the surrounding area joined town people in an open market place.

The roaring water swept the village’s living places, the market sheds (棚子), shoppers, cattle and farm tools for miles across the plain..

The flood was over almost as soon as it started, the reports said, as the crest swept out to sea. Rescue workers quickly moved into the area from Sari, about 25 miles further south.

It can be learnt from the text that _____.

A. the news report is from Khemis Nagua                         B. the flood didn’t last long

C. hundreds of Moroccans were saved                       D. Casablanca is a city in Africa

The report mainly tells the public about _____.

A. how the flood swept the coastal plain                           B. why the terrible flood took place

C. the flash flood in the fall                                             D. a rescue attempt

According to the text, which of the following maps may be correct?

(KN=Khemis Nagua  C=Casablanca  S=Safi)