It was about midday. I’d left work early in the morning to cash a cheque. I walked along to the bank, and found that there weren’t too many people about ten or eleven customers in there, which was pretty unusual for those central city banks.

    I waited until it was my turn and just went up to the desk and started to talk to the bank clerk. He had a really strange expression on his face -- just sort of blank stare at least I thought he was looking at me and then I realized he was staring over my shoulder.

    I began to turn round to see what he was looking at. At the same moment the outside bank guard came flying through the door and lay face down on the floor and following him through the door were three frightening masked men. They were carrying guns; at least I think the one in front was carrying a gun. Whether or not they said anything at that point I can’t remember to this day, or whether people just automatically put their hands up I’ve just no idea.

    For a few moments there was just total silence, suddenly broken by the telephone ringing and I remember thinking and wondering who was on the other end of the telephone. Nobody went to answer the telephone, so this thing just kept on ringing and ringing. Then two of the masked men went to the counter, jumped over it and got the cashiers and the bank clerks to start filling the bags with cash. While the two were getting the money, the one at the door who was covering us with the gun was a bit frightened. He started swearing at them, and telling them to hurry up, to get a move on. They jumped back over the counter. One of them slipped as he landed on the floor and fell over and the other two swore at him again. They left through the door. Warning us, “Don’t move, stay like that with your hands up for ten minutes.” And then they just disappeared. Again back to total silence. People put their hands down, I put my hands down but I just stayed exactly where I was.

What does the writer mean by saying “…a pretty unusual number for those central banks” in the first paragraph?

    A. More customers than usual were staying in the bank.

    B. Less bank clerks than expected were in the bank.

    C. There were often more than a dozen customers in the bank.

    D. More banks should be open to serve customers in the city center.

The bank clerk wore a blank expression on his face probably because ________.

    A. he was feeling upset at that moment

    B. he felt puzzled and sensed something terrible

    C. he was required to keep silence

    D. he was threatened with a gun by robbers

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

    A. The customers didn’t wait in line but jumped the queue because of the confusion.

    B. All the people in the bank except the writer put their hands up automatically.

    C. Nobody answered the phone because all the clerks were busy with work.

    D. the bank workers were forced to fill the robbers’ bags with cash.

What’s the best title of this passage?

    A. A Street Gang              B. A Strange Bank

    C. A Bank Robbery            D. A Horrible Adventure

It was about midday. I’d left work early in the morning to cash a cheque. I walked along to the bank, and found that there weren’t too many people about ten or eleven customers in there, which was pretty unusual for those central city banks.
I waited until it was my turn and just went up to the desk and started to talk to the bank clerk. He had a really strange expression on his face -- just sort of blank stare at least I thought he was looking at me and then I realized he was staring over my shoulder.
I began to turn round to see what he was looking at. At the same moment the outside bank guard came flying through the door and lay face down on the floor and following him through the door were three frightening masked men. They were carrying guns; at least I think the one in front was carrying a gun. Whether or not they said anything at that point I can’t remember to this day, or whether people just automatically put their hands up I’ve just no idea.
For a few moments there was just total silence, suddenly broken by the telephone ringing and I remember thinking and wondering who was on the other end of the telephone. Nobody went to answer the telephone, so this thing just kept on ringing and ringing. Then two of the masked men went to the counter, jumped over it and got the cashiers and the bank clerks to start filling the bags with cash. While the two were getting the money, the one at the door who was covering us with the gun was a bit frightened. He started swearing at them, and telling them to hurry up, to get a move on. They jumped back over the counter. One of them slipped as he landed on the floor and fell over and the other two swore at him again. They left through the door. Warning us, “Don’t move, stay like that with your hands up for ten minutes.” And then they just disappeared. Again back to total silence. People put their hands down, I put my hands down but I just stayed exactly where I was.
【小题1】What does the writer mean by saying “…a pretty unusual number for those central banks” in the first paragraph?

It was about midday. I’d left work early in the morning to cash a cheque. I walked along to the bank, and found that there weren’t too many people about ten or eleven customers in there, which was pretty unusual for those central city banks.

    I waited until it was my turn and just went up to the desk and started to talk to the bank clerk. He had a really strange expression on his face -- just sort of blank stare at least I thought he was looking at me and then I realized he was staring over my shoulder.

    I began to turn round to see what he was looking at. At the same moment the outside bank guard came flying through the door and lay face down on the floor and following him through the door were three frightening masked men. They were carrying guns; at least I think the one in front was carrying a gun. Whether or not they said anything at that point I can’t remember to this day, or whether people just automatically put their hands up I’ve just no idea.

    For a few moments there was just total silence, suddenly broken by the telephone ringing and I remember thinking and wondering who was on the other end of the telephone. Nobody went to answer the telephone, so this thing just kept on ringing and ringing. Then two of the masked men went to the counter, jumped over it and got the cashiers and the bank clerks to start filling the bags with cash. While the two were getting the money, the one at the door who was covering us with the gun was a bit frightened. He started swearing at them, and telling them to hurry up, to get a move on. They jumped back over the counter. One of them slipped as he landed on the floor and fell over and the other two swore at him again. They left through the door. Warning us, “Don’t move, stay like that with your hands up for ten minutes.” And then they just disappeared. Again back to total silence. People put their hands down, I put my hands down but I just stayed exactly where I was.

1.What does the writer mean by saying “…a pretty unusual number for those central banks” in the first paragraph?

    A. More customers than usual were staying in the bank.

    B. Less bank clerks than expected were in the bank.

    C. There were often more than a dozen customers in the bank.

    D. More banks should be open to serve customers in the city center.

2. The bank clerk wore a blank expression on his face probably because ________.

    A. he was feeling upset at that moment

    B. he felt puzzled and sensed something terrible

    C. he was required to keep silence

    D. he was threatened with a gun by robbers

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

    A. The customers didn’t wait in line but jumped the queue because of the confusion.

    B. All the people in the bank except the writer put their hands up automatically.

    C. Nobody answered the phone because all the clerks were busy with work.

    D. the bank workers were forced to fill the robbers’ bags with cash.

4. What’s the best title of this passage?

    A. A Street Gang              B. A Strange Bank

    C. A Bank Robbery            D. A Horrible Adventure

It was about midday. I’d left work early in the morning to cash a check. I walked along to the bank and found there were only about ten or eleven customers there, a pretty unusual number for those central city banks.

    I waited until it was my turn, walked up to the desk and started talking to the bank clerk. He had a really strange expression on his face — just sort of a blank （茫然的） stare. I thought he was looking at me until I realize he was staring over my shoulder.

    I began to turn round to see what he was looking at and at the same moment, the outside bank guard, the one with the machine gun, came flying through the door and lay face down on the floor. Following him through the door were three absolutely frightening men wearing those horrible stocking masks. They were carrying guns; at least the one in front was carrying a pistol.

    Whether or not they said anything I can't remember to this day, or whether people just automatically put their hands up I don't know. I put my hands up but I just didn't know what to do.

    For a few moments there was just total silence, suddenly broken by the telephone ringing. I remember wondering who was on the other end of the line. Nobody answered the telephone, so it just kept on ringing and ringing, in this otherwise deathly quiet.

    Then two of the masked men went to the counter, jumped over it and got the cashiers and bank clerks to start filling their bags with cash. While the two were getting the money, the one at the door covering us with the gun obviously got a bit of an anxiety attack and started swearing at them, telling them to hurry up and get a move on.

They jumped back over the counter. One of them lost his balance when he landed on the floor and fell over. The other two swore at him again. Then they left through the door, warning us, "Don't move. Stay like that with your hands up for ten minutes." Then they just disappeared and there was total silence.

1．What does the writer mean by saying “a pretty unusual number for t hose central banks” in the first paragraph?

       A．More customers than usual were staying in the bank.

       B．Less bank clerks than expected were working in the bank.

       C．There were usually more than a dozen customers in the bank.

       D．More banks should be open to serve customers in the city center.

2．The bank clerk wore a blank expression on his face probably because          

       A．he was feeling upset at that moment

       B．he felt puzzled and sensed something terrible

       C．he was required to keep silent at work

       D．he was threatened with a gun by robbers

3．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

       A．The customers didn’t wait in line but jumped the queue because of the confusion.

       B．All the people in the bank except the writer put their hands up automatically.

       C．Nobody answered the telephone because all the clerks were busy with work.

       D．The bank workers were forced to fill the robbers’ bags with cash.

4．What’s the best title of this passage?

       A．A Street Gang                                      B．A Strange Bank

       C．A Bank Robbery                         D．A Horrible Adventure