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Unit 13

快速阅读（Fast Reading）

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Passage One

"Fire! Fire!" What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! It was a large, old, wooden house and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped out into the passage. It was full of thick smoke.

I began to run, but as I was still only half-awake, instead of going towards the stairs I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I could see flames all around. The floor became hot under my bare feet. I found an open door and ran into a room to get to the window. But before I could reach it, one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. Just then the floor gave way under me and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me.

I saw a flaming doorway in front, put the bundle over my face and ran. My feet burned me terribly, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes suddenly gave a thin cry. I was taken aback and nearly dropped it. Then I saw a crowd gathered in the street. A woman in a nightdress and a borrowed man's coat screamed as she saw me and came running madly.

"My baby! My baby!" she cried. The crowd cheered wildly as she took the smoke-blackened bundle out of my arms. I had some difficulty in recognizing her. She was the Mayor's wife, and I had saved her baby. I was a hero.

(298 words)

1. When I heard that the house was on fire __________. ( B )

(a) I jumped out of the window

(b) I ran in the wrong direction

(d) I stayed in the passage

2. Which of the following is NOT true? .( A )

(a) I had no time to put on my socks because of the fire

(b) I was half-asleep when I got up

(d) I used the bundle of clothes as protection against the fire

3. The expression gave way in paragraph 2 means ________. ( A )

(a) collapsed

(b) shook

(d) became hot

4.How did the author feel when he suddenly heard a weak cry from his bundle of clothes? ( B )

(a) Very pleased

(b) Greatly surprised

(d) Excited

5. This is a story about ____________.( D )

(a) a man who bravely rescued a baby

(b) a man who lived on the top floor of a house on fire

(d) a man who saved a baby accidentally

TOP

Passage Two

Fire-stations are strangely exciting places. In the normal course of events, the great doors are shut, and, behind them, the fire-engines wait peacefully. But the moment the fire alarm sounds, the huge doors swing open and firemen come rushing, perhaps sliding down the pole from upstairs. The powerful motors spring to life and the men jump on as the fire-engines shoot out and flash down the street, with sirens screaming. In large towns, firemen are employed on a full-time basis; that is to say, they are professional firemen and have no other work. But in many smaller places, the firemen have their own jobs to do, apart from the work of fighting fires, and they only come to the fire-station when they are called. It is not unusual to hear the fire alarm, and then to see, seconds later, men hurrying from all parts of the town, in cars, on bicycles, on foot, in the direction of the fire-station.

But firemen are not only called out to fight fires. They are often asked to advise on fire prevention. They are also summoned to rescue cats from high trees, to free small boys whose heads have got stuck between iron railings, or to release ladies who have accidentally got locked in public lavatories. Recently, during a spell of cold weather, little Sandra Fox decided to explore the lake in the park near her home. She walked across the ice to a small island in the middle and played there happily for a few hours in the afternoon sunshine. She did not realize that the weather had got much warmer, and when she wanted to go home she found that the ice had melted, and she was stuck on the island. Her cries for help soon attracted the attention of people in the park, and they called the fire-brigade. In less than ten minutes, the firemen were there with a long ladder which stretched across the water to the island. Sandra managed to crawl across it and reached the other side without even getting her feet wet.

(346 words)

6. A fire-station is an exciting place because ______ . ( C )

(a) the fire-engines have powerful motors

(b) the fire alarm sounds at every moment

(d) the firemen slide down the pole from upstairs

7. In what way are firemen in smaller places different from those in large cities? ______ . ( A )

(a) They are not professional firemen.

(b) They ride bicycles.

(d) They fight fires only.

8. Besides being called out to fight fires, firemen are also called _________. ( D )

(a) to rescue small animals from high trees

(b) to free little boys whose heads have got struck between iron railings

(d) all of the above

9. When little Sandra found the ice had melted _______. ( C )

(a) she asked for help from the local fire-brigade

(b) she managed to crawl across a long ladder

(d) she tried to swim back to the other side

10. The passage mainly talks about _________. ( A )

(a) firemen's important role

(b) the story of Sandra's adventure

(d) fire-stations in small towns

TOP

Passage Three

During the Christmas shopping rush in London, the intriguing story was reported of a tramp who, apparently through no fault of his own, found himself locked in a well-known chain store late on

Christmas Eve. No doubt the store was crowded with last-minute Christmas shoppers and the staff were tired and longing to get home. Presumably all the proper security checks were made before the store was locked and they left to enjoy the three-day holiday untroubled by customers desperate to get last-minute Christmas presents.

However that may be, our tramp found himself alone in the store and decided to make the best of it. There was food, drink, bedding and camping equipment, of which he made good use. There must also have been television sets and radios. Though it was not reported if he took advantage of these facilities, when the shop re-opened, he was discovered in a bed with a large number of empty bottles beside him. He seemed to have been a man of good humour and philosophic temperament─ as indeed vagrants very commonly are. Everyone else was enjoying Christmas, so he saw no good reason why he should not do the same. He submitted, cheerfully enough, to being taken away by the police. Perhaps he had had a better Christmas than usual. He was sent to prison for seven days. The judge awarded no compensation to the chain store for the food and drink our tramp had consumed. They had, in his opinion, already received valuable free publicity from the coverage the story received in the newspapers and on television. Perhaps the judge had had a good Christmas too.

(272 words)

11. The tramp was locked in the chain store _______________ . ( A )

(a) by himself

(b) by the staff

(d) by the shop manager

12. Before the store was locked ______ . ( A )

(a) the staff probably made the security checks

(b) the staff forgot to make the security checks

(d) the staff didn't want to make the security checks

13. Which of the following is true? ( D )

(a) He stole a lot of bottles from the store

(b) He watched television for three days.

(d) He enjoyed himself in the store

14. When the tramp was taken away by the police _____ .( D )

(a) he felt nervous

(b) he was unwilling to go to prison

(d) he did not care about it

15.Why did the judge think it was not necessary to compensate the chain store? ( A )

(a) The store had earned public attention and interest from the incident

(b) The tramp had only consumed some food and drink and stole nothing important

(d) The store locked the tramp inside by mistake and was responsible for what happened

TOP

测验结果：15 题中共答对题，答错题，还有题未答。