C

BUKHANNON, West Virginia—Two rescue teams slowly moved along a two-mile path on Monday night to the site of a coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners, who had not been heard from since the early morning accident.

Meanwhile, at a nearby church, more than 250 family members and friends gathered, waiting for updates（最新报道）on the rescuers’ progress.

The miners were trapped at about 6:30 and many families weren’t informed of the accident until about 10 a.m-more than three hours after it happened. “It’s very upsetting, but you’ve got to be patient, I guess,” said John Helms, whose brother, Terry, was trapped in the mine.

The trapped miners were about 260 feet underground and about 10,000 feet from the Sago Mine’s entrance, said Roger Nicholson, general counsel from International Coal Group.

At a late night news conference, Nicholson said one team had advanced about 4,800 feet in the four hours since entering the mine just before 6 p.m. Another team entered the mine about 30 minutes later.

He said the crew was very experienced, with some members having worked underground for 30 to 35 years. The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen each. The company has not released the names of the miners.

The teams test the air about every 500 feet, and have to disconnect (remove) the power to the phones they use to communicate with the surface before doing that. “We don’t want to be energizing anything if it’s in an atmosphere with burnable gases,” Kips said. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. High levels of carbon monoxide were detected shortly after the explosion, which delayed rescue efforts, but those levels have since subsided（减退）, authorities said.

53. According to the passage, we can infer that ______.

A. all the miners who were trapped underground were still alive

B. communication with the trapped miners was cut off

C. the two rescue teams entered the mine at the same time

D. the rescue started as soon as the accident happened

54. If the first team advanced at an average speed, they could dig about ______ per hour.

A. 1,000 feet           B. 2,400 feet             C. 1,200 feet                D. 4,800 feet

55. Where can the passage be seen?

A. In a magazine.                                    B. In a newspaper.        

C. In a science book..                              D. On an advertisement.

56. Which of the following shows the position where the miners were trapped?

   I was on a bus one March evening. The driver didn’t  1  to start the bus soon because it was not yet   2 . A middle-aged woman got on. Tired and sad, she told her story   3 , not to anyone in particular. On her way to the station, half of her   4  was stolen. The other half was hidden under her blouse, so she   5  still had some left. A few minutes later, she stopped crying, but still looked   6  .

   When all the seats were taken, the driver started the engine. The conductor began to collect fares(车费). When she came to an old man in worn-out clothes, he   7  that he had spent all his money when he had accidentally got on a wrong bus and now he was trying to go home. On hearing this, she ordered the old man to   8  the bus. The old man was almost in tears as he   9  her to let him take the bus home. The driver took the conductor’s side and repeated the conductor’s  10  .

   The woman was watching the incident.  11  the driver and the conductor raised their voices at the old man, she interfered(干预).

   “Stop   12  him! Can’t you see he’s only trying to get home?”

   “He doesn’t have any money! ” the driver   13  .

   “Well, that’s no   14  to throw him off the bus,” she insisted.

  Then she reached inside her blouse, look out her   15  money, and handed it to the conductor. “Here’s his fare and mine. Just stop giving him a   16  time.”

   All heads turned to the woman. “It’s only money,” she shrugged.

   She rode the rest of the way home   17  a happy smile, with the money she’d lost 18  .

   On the road of life, the help of strangers can   19  our loads and lift our spirits. How much sweeter the   20  will be when we make it a little smoother for others!

1. A. try                      B. care                        C. decide                    D. intend

2. A. empty          B. full                         C. crowded                 D. ready 

3. A. tearfully              B. seriously                 C. carefully                 D. calmly 

4. A. fare                     B. possession              C. money                    D. wealth 

5. A. strangely              B. happily                    C. secretly                  D. fortunately 

6. A. unsatisfied            B. weak                     C. unhappy                 D. excited 

7. A. explained              B. declared                  C. admitted                 D. found 

8. A. get off                B. start                       C. get on                    D. stop 

9. A. begged                B. scolded                   C. praised                   D. thanked 

10. A. request              B. action                    C. suggestion              D. command 

11. A. Unless               B. Although                 C. Until                      D. When 

12. A. attacking           B. bothering                       C. blaming                  D. wronging 

13. A. warned             B. whispered               C. shouted                  D. repeated 

14. A. problem            B. need                       C. matter                    D. reason 

15. A. spending           B. collected                C. remaining               D. borrowed 

16. A. busy                 B. cold                       C. hard                      D. fearful 

17. A. giving                B. wearing                  C. taking                    D. forcing 

18. A. forgotten           B. used                      C. earned                    D. returned 

19. A. move                       B. increase                        C. lighten                   D. carry 

20. A. world                B. journey                  C. smile                     D. friendship

 A friend of mine was sitting in the living room one day when his cat dragged in a little “gift” in its mouth—a dead animal of some sort. Taking a closer look, he was surprised to  36 it as the bunny(小兔子) that  37 Mary, the young daughter of the family next door. My friend felt  38 , believing his cat had killed Mary’s bunny.
My quick-thinking friend came up with a plan.  39  from the cat’s mouth the dead animal, which by now was a     40 mess, he put it in the kitchen sink. With a little warm water and some shampoo, he tried to  41 the dead bunny as best he could. Then he took a hair dryer and blowdried the bunny  42 it looked pretty good.
Finally, under the cover of darkness, he crept into the next-door garden and placed it  43 in the cage. He managed to make the bunny look very  44 there in his little box.
The next morning, my friend looked out of the window and noticed a crowd of people  45 around the rabbit hutch(笼). Everyone seemed to be talking and pointing. My friend  46 to go over and act like any normal  47 neighbor and find out what was going on.
When he got there, Mary’s mother said to my friend, “You won’t believe this! It’s a(n)   48 thing! Mary’s bunny  49 a few days ago, and we buried that little bunny right over there…”
Have you ever tried to cover up one wrongdoing with another? Covering up only makes matters  50 .
When we get caught doing something  51 , for example, we may  52 to cover it up with a lie. But just like Mary’s bunny, the result is  53 what we expected. We  54 looking foolish. We would have been better off admitting we were wrong and accepting the  55 . What do you think of it?

 A friend of mine was sitting in the living room one day when his cat dragged in a little “gift” in its mouth—a dead animal of some sort. Taking a closer look, he was surprised to  36 it as the bunny(小兔子) that  37 Mary, the young daughter of the family next door. My friend felt  38 , believing his cat had killed Mary’s bunny.
My quick-thinking friend came up with a plan.  39  from the cat’s mouth the dead animal, which by now was a     40 mess, he put it in the kitchen sink. With a little warm water and some shampoo, he tried to  41 the dead bunny as best he could. Then he took a hair dryer and blowdried the bunny  42 it looked pretty good.
Finally, under the cover of darkness, he crept into the next-door garden and placed it  43 in the cage. He managed to make the bunny look very  44 there in his little box.
The next morning, my friend looked out of the window and noticed a crowd of people  45 around the rabbit hutch(笼). Everyone seemed to be talking and pointing. My friend  46 to go over and act like any normal  47 neighbor and find out what was going on.
When he got there, Mary’s mother said to my friend, “You won’t believe this! It’s a(n)   48 thing! Mary’s bunny  49 a few days ago, and we buried that little bunny right over there…”
Have you ever tried to cover up one wrongdoing with another? Covering up only makes matters  50 .
When we get caught doing something  51 , for example, we may  52 to cover it up with a lie. But just like Mary’s bunny, the result is  53 what we expected. We  54 looking foolish. We would have been better off admitting we were wrong and accepting the  55 . What do you think of it?

A friend of mine met with an accident driving in darkness. His legs were so hurt that he couldn’t move. What was the   1  was that he found himself unable to ask for help—his mobile phone went out of   2   as a result of exhausted battery (无电) . Nothing could be done but to   3   in cold wilderness (荒野). It was eight hours later that day broke, and then   4   of the rescue (援救).
It is almost   5   that he could stand （忍受）the horror in the darkness for so long. Even more surprising was his   6  : “First of all, I checked up my   7     conditions and found myself not in mortal (致命的) danger. As there was no   8   to call for help, I leaned back in my seat trying my best to keep the wound from   9  . In this way I dozed (瞌睡) off.”
His story put an end to my regret (遗憾) for the   10   of an exploration adventure (探险) that happened last year. A group of young men   11   to explore a mountain cave and got lost.   12   to find a way out in the dark cave they were frightened and ran anxiously without a sense of   13  . Finally they felt dead in fear and exhaustion. According to the   14   people that found them, the place where they got lost was only about 10 meters away from the   15   of the cave. If they stayed on the spot when they lost their way and tried to   16   themselves, they would probably sense a faint light glimmering (闪烁) not far away.
Don’t you think you can compare it with   17   itself? When you meet with difficulty in life and work, you are lost in darkness.   18   you it’s unclear yet and you needn’t put up struggle   19 . It seems to be a negative （消极）attitude,   20   a person who can afford to do so must have foresight (远见) as well as a great courage in the first place.