（安徽省桐城六中2010届高三第二次模拟月考）

L’HAY-LES-ROSES, France: Three teenage girls admitted starting a fire in a suburban Paris housing project over the weekend that killed 17 people, including three children, police said yesterday. A fourth girl was held yesterday morning.

The fire in a 19-storey building south of Paris was the third fatal blaze in the Paris area in nine days. The death toll rose to 16 after a man died late Sunday in a hospital, where seven others were being treated for serious injuries, police said.

Three teenagers taken in for questioning on Sunday admitted having started the fire for fun, police said. Two of the suspects were 18-year-old, the other was 16, police said. Further details were not available.

Witnesses claimed to have seen a group of youths who lived in the building start the fire, said Patrick Seve, mayor of the town of L’HAY-LES-ROSES, near Orly airport, where the building was located.

The fire is believed to have broken out in the lobby（门厅）of the building before raging up a stairwell at least three floors. Some residents jumped from windows as the fire spread through the building’s entrance.

Authorities were investigating possible criminals in an August 26 fire that killed 14 African children and three adults in a Paris apartment building. Three days later, another fire killed seven in a building.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy suggested on French television on Sunday night that copycats（盲目模仿者）were at work. “Each time there is a new story, sometimes that gives ideas to people who then turn into criminals,” Sarkozy said, promising severe punishment for anyone found guilty of arson（纵火）.

56. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs？

A. Three girls were caught setting fire to a building.

B. The fourth girl wasn’t present when the fire broke out.

C. All the people lost their lives before police came.

D. Paris was troubled by fire during that period.

57. Why did the teenagers start the fire？

A. They were interested in playing with fire.

B. They wanted to make fun of their parents.

C. They were not satisfied with the surroundings.

D. They wanted to warm themselves.

58. From the fourth and fifth paragraphs we know that ________.

A. the witnesses must have put out the fire

B. the lobby of the building was covered with wood.

C. the witnesses were familiar with the teenagers

D. the residents shouldn’t have jumped from windows

59. What the Minister said in the last paragraph means that ________.

A. he doesn’t like to listen to new stories

B. he has no time to write new stories

C. teenagers often have ideas to turn into criminals

D. teenagers may do the same as others have done