4、
(河南省10-11方城县月考) Are you a man or a mouse? When people ask
this question they want to know
21 you think you are a
22 person or a coward (懦
夫). But you will never really know
the answer to this question
23 you are tested in real life. Some people 24 they are brave but when they
come face to face with real 25 ,
they act like cowards. Others think of themselves as cowards, but when they
meet danger, they act like 26 .
Lenny had alwa
ys
thought of himself as a 27 person. He got worried before
examinations. He worried about his job and health. All he wanted in life was to
be safe and healthy. 28 , on
January 15th, 2002, a plane crashed into the Potomac River in Washington. Lenny went to the river to see
what was happening. He saw a woman in the
29 water. Lenny did not feel
afraid. He kept very 30 and did a
very dangerous thing. He jumped into the Potomac, 31 to the woman, and kept her
head 32 the water. Seventy-eight people died
that day. Thanks to Lenny, it was not
33 .
When you are in a very 34 situation and feel afraid, the
body automatically produces a chemical in the blood. The chemical is called
adrenalin. 35 adrenalin in
the blood system, you actually feel stronger and stronger and are 36 to fight or run away. However,
when you are absolutely terrified, the body can produce too much adrenalin.
When this 37 , the muscles become
very hard and you find you 38 at all. You are then paralyzed (使无能为力) with fear. This is 39 when we are very frightened, we
sometimes say we’re “petrified”. This word comes from the Greek word “petros”,
which means “stone”. We are 40
frightened that we become stonelike.