单选题 Many years ago there was a huge oil refinery fire. Flames shot hundreds of feet into the air. The sky was thick with black smoke. The heat was so intense that firefighters had to park their trucks a block away and wait for the heat to die down before they could begin to fight the fire. However, it was about to rage out of control.
Then, all of a sudden, from several blocks away came a fire truck racing down the street. With its brakes screeching, it hit the curb in front of the fire. The firefighters jumped out and began to battle the blaze. All the firefighters who were parked a block away saw this, and they jumped into their trucks, drove down the block and began to fight the fire, too. As a result of that cooperative effort, they were just barely able to bring the fire under control.
The people who saw this teamwork thought: "My goodness, the man who drove that lead fire truck—what an act of bravery!" They decided to give him a special award to recognize him for his bravery in leading the charge.
At the ceremony the mayor said, " Captain, we want to honour you for a fantastic act of bravery. You prevented the loss of property, perhaps even the loss of life. If there is one special thing you could have — what would it be?"
Without hesitation, the captain replied, "Your Honour, a new set of brakes would be nice!"
单选题 The expression "die down" in Paragraph 1 means ______.
  • A. come to an end
  • B. become stronger
  • C. gradually weaken
  • D. end one's life
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】语义题。见文章第一段的最后一句。可以根据该句的转折关系推导出前一句中短语的意思,即大火没能逐渐熄灭下来,反而更加凶猛难以控制。由此,可判断C选项是正确的。
单选题 What did other firefighters do after seeing the lead fire truck?
  • A. They stayed where they were and continued fighting the fire.
  • B. They drove down the block and fought the fire fearlessly.
  • C. They went back to the safe area.
  • D. They came to help save the wounded.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节题。见文章第二段的倒数一、二两句。句中jumped into,drove down和cooperative effort都说明其他消防队员在看到那辆冲锋在前的消防车后,立即驱车前往火场扑救的行为。
单选题 Why did the fire truck lead the charge since other firefighters parked their trucks a block away?
  • A. The truck couldn't be stopped because of its bad brakes.
  • B. The firefighters on the truck wanted to show their bravery.
  • C. The firefighters on the truck wanted to put out the fire in the shortest time.
  • D. There were their family members they had to save.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】推断题。见文章的最后一段。市长给英勇的消防队员颁奖时询问他们有什么要求,其队长的回答出人意料,说明他们之所以英勇无畏完全是由于刹车不灵导致的。
单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned in the passage?
  • A. The fire was so strong that it could be hardly under control in the beginning.
  • B. The captain was awarded by the mayor for his bravery.
  • C. People were astonished by what the driver of the lead fire truck did.
  • D. People who were saved wrote to the firefighters to express their thanks.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】是非题。见文章的第一、三、四段。它们分别说明了火势起初的凶猛,人们惊叹于消防队员的英勇行为,以及市长给他们颁奖等事实。只有选项D没有提到,符合题意。
单选题 This passage is ______.
  • A. a humorous story
  • B. a sad story
  • C. a news report
  • D. a special report
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】推断题。见文章的最后一段。消防队长的回答出人意料,给全文一个幽默的结尾。