It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently. My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I’m so glad I did.

On the road to the harbor we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbor itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背) in the distance.

On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn’t believe it — there aren’t any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.

The little baby whale — actually as big as our boat — was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡) and waves. “She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side,” my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, some-times rising from the water right beside us to breathe — and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.

In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.

The author says “I’m so glad I did.” (in Para.2) because __________.

A. he spent the weekend with his family

B. be witnessed the whole process of fishing

C. he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea

D. he experienced the rescue of the whales

The harbor survived the storm owing to __________.

A. the long coast line                         B. the shape of the harbor    

C. the arms of the bay                         D. the still water in the channel

The mother whale failed to help her baby because __________.

A. the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction

B. she had stayed in the polluted water for too long

C. the whirlpools she had made were not big enough

D. she had no other whales around to turn to for help

What is the theme of the story?

A. It’s vital to protect the environment

B. Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness

C. Fishing provides excitement for children

D. It’s necessary to live in harmony with animals

       New York: When the first plane struck 1 World Trade Center at 8:48 am on Tuesday, the people in 2 World Trade Center who saw the instant (瞬间的) damage to the other tower realized clearly what they, too, must do: get out fast.

       Katherine Ilachinsiki, who had been knocked off her chair by the blast (一阵)of heat exploding from the neighboring tower, was one of those. Despite her 70 years of age, Mrs Ilachinsiki, an architect working on the 91st floor of 2 World Trade Center, the south tower, went for the stairs. Twelve floors above her, Judy Wein, an executive (经理), cried sharply and set off too.

       But others up and down the 110 floors, many without seeing the damage across the way and thus unclear about what was happening, were not so sure. And the 18 minutes before the next plane would hit were ticking off.

       Most people had no idea about what was the best thing to do, formal announcements inside the south tower asked people to stay put, assuring them that the building was sound and the threat was limited to the other tower.

       Some left, others stayed. Some began to climb down and, when met with more announcements and other cautions (警告) to stop or return, went back up. The decisions made in those instants proved to be of great importance, because many who chose to stay were killed completely when the second plane crashed into the south tower.

       One of those caught in indecision (犹豫不决) was the executive at Fuji Bank USA.

       Richard Jacobs of Fuji Bank left the 79th floor with the other office workers, but on the 48th floor they heard the announcement that the situation was under control. Several got in the lifts and went back up, two minutes or so before the plane crashed into their floor.

       “I just don’t know what happened to them,” Mr Jacobs said.

From the passage, we know that the south tower was hit by the plane ________.

 A. at 8:30                           B. 18 minutes earlier than the north tower

C. at around 9:06                    D. at 8:48

The underlined words “stay put” means ________.

    A. stay in the building                B. leave at once

      C. put everything back and then leave    D. keep silent

Which floor was hit by the second plane?

A. The 91st floor    B. The 103rd floor     C. The 60th floor     D. The 79th floor

Fewer people would have died if       .

A. more announcements had been made     B. people hadn’t used the lifts

 C. the attack had happened on a weekend    D. the people had obeyed the office rules

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