I got up early this morning, but I ________ so because I had no work to do.

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At 4:00 A.M. on Sunday morning, my friend, Tim, awoke me. He was sleeping in the living room right next to the front door and said there was a man pounding on my front door and screaming. At first, I was like, "Shut up and leave me alone," but then I heard one of the scariest voices of my life. The man sounded of Spanish descent (血统), older, and in pain.

I was home alone for the week, so I had two guns loaded with bullets. I had a rifle (步枪) next to my bed and a shotgun next to my front door. I grabbed my rifle. Tim asked me, "What are you doing?"

"Getting my gun, what do you think I'm doing?" I asked.

As I headed down the hall towards the front door, I remembered Chad, my older brother, telling me to protect myself when he left. Immediately, I grabbed the shotgun and gave it to Tim. Thinking that it might scare the person off, I went to my back door and shot my rifle into the dark cold sky. However, this did not work. "Protect yourself, Sarah," kept going through my head. The man kept yelling and pounding on my door. I would have just opened the door, but I watched too many "America's Most Wanted" shows, where that is how they get the little girls to open the door. So, I then called 911 myself.

The operator said, "911. What is your emergency?"

I replied, "My name is Sarah Miller and I am at Juniper Lane in Hotchkiss and there is a man beating on my front door and telling me to let him in." That was the start of all the excitement. I continued to tell her what was going on and what had already gone on. Our conversation was still going when I heard the man walk off my door. During this time, the police were having a discussion of whether they should respond to the call. When I heard the man walk off my door, I thought that he was going to leave.

I was still on the phone when I heard the man in my basement. "Protect yourself, Sarah," went through my head again. The basement stairs lead right up to a door entering our house. We leave our garage door open to cool off our house when the weather is good. The man was yelling, "Help me" from the bottom of the stairs. I walked over and made sure the door was locked and made sure there was a bullet in the rifle. I stood there with the phone in one hand and my trusty old rifle in the other just waiting for him to start coming up the stairs.

My conversation with the operator went from "Hi, how are you now?" to "What are you doing to help me here?" About this time, the operator told me that the policeman should be at the bottom of my driveway, so I turned on all of the lights, inside and outside. I still had my rifle in my hands when the policeman walked up the stairs to my front door. "Did you see an older Spanish man walking down my driveway by any chance?" I asked him.

"Um, no," he answered. I then asked him if he had seen anyone in the basement, and again he said, "No". So at this time, he went back down the stairs and approached my garage. For some reason, I knew that there was still someone in there. I crouched (猫着腰) down to where I could see into the garage / basement area. As the policeman approached the basement, he yelled, "Whoa, put your hands up. Freeze."

"I’ve got you," were the first words out of my mouth; I don't know what I was thinking. After this happened, I realized that those words weren't exactly the smartest choice of words. About this time, another policeman pulled into my driveway with his lights on followed by a police officer. As I approached the basement with my rifle, I was worried about what I would see. What I saw will always stick with me forever. A poor twenty-nine year old Spanish man was crapping (拉屎) there, and I almost shot him because he was coming to my house to find help. His face was all bloody, his nose was broken, his clothes were torn, and worst of all, he didn't speak English, and none of the policemen who were there spoke Spanish. I had taken three years of Spanish before, so I translated what the Spanish guy, Jose, was saying to the policemen. About this time an ambulance came up my driveway with its lights on. So, I had three police cars and an ambulance, all with their lights on, in my driveway. I'm sure my neighbors all came out, since nothing had ever happened in my small community.

I did protect myself that night. My brother was right when he said that you could never be too careful. "Wake up Sarah. It's time for school," my mom said a couple of mornings later. That is how I prefer to be woken up. I will always have a loaded gun next to my bed after this incident.

55. The moment Tim awoke her, the author ______.

A. screamed            B. felt annoyed     C. heard the voice           D. grabbed the rifle

56. Why did the author go to the back door and shot into the sky?

A. Because she wanted to scare the man off.   B. Because she wanted to kill the man.

C. Because she wanted to call for help.       D. Because she wanted to remind the police.

57. The Spanish man pounded the author’s door so early ______.

A. to practise speaking English                            B. to meet his old friend

C. to seek help                                            D. to hide himself

58. By saying “That was the start of all the excitement”, maybe the author ______.

A. thought they talked too much exciting things

B. was excited that she could talk with the operator

C. was sure that the police would come

D. wanted to say their conversation lasted a long time

59. What did the author learn from the incident?

A. She regretted what she had done to the Spanish

B. She felt it fortunate to know a little Spanish

C. She thought it couldn’t be too careful about her safety.

D. She would never live alone in a big house.

60. Which of the following can be used as the title of this passage?

A. Make ends meet      B. As busy as a bee    C. A piece of cake    D. A false alarm

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