A
CALGARY, CANADA — It was one of the most important phone calls Bruce Burrell has ever received, a call warning that a flood was headed Calgary's way.
“I got a phone call about five in the morning on Thursday from Len McCharles, who was on watch at the time, and he said ‘there has been big flooding in Canmore and it's heading this way’,” said Burrell, the head of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency.
“I got up immediately, turned on the morning news, saw the pictures from Canmore and then called McCharles back.I said ‘open the Emergency Operations Centre’.”
Burrell was in the EOC for 48 hours straight and it wasn't until Burrell left the centre for the first time that the disaster hit him.
“Once you step outside and you actually see it and hear it, it paints a completely different picture from what you thought you would be dealing with.”
Calgary firefighters came to help the Calgarians who were influenced by floodwaters.Keal Prince, captain of the Calgary Fire Department remembers how a young boy lost his finger while helping a woman remove debris (瓦砾) out of her house.
“As his finger got cut off it went into a fully loaded dumpster (装好的垃圾箱),”Prince said.“People had worked hours to get the dumpster loaded and now they're working tirelessly, quickly, to unload that dumpster, looking for that finger.”
“We had to remove a lot of debris to find that finger.Luckily, the finger was found and it was reattached (重新接上),” Prince added.
Burrell is proud of what the city has achieved so far.And he says the city couldn't have done it without hundreds of unsung heroes.“There were a lot of unbelievable things that went on during the flood and I think that is what Calgarians need to be proud of.”
语篇解读:本文是一则新闻报道。文章主要报道了加拿大Calgary这个地方的人们竭力抗洪的故事。
1.On the morning of Thursday, Burrell .
A.recognised his house was flooded
B.was called to go to Canmore to help people
C.got to know from others about a coming disaster
D.opened his house and found something was wrong
解析:选C 细节理解题。根据第二段内容可知,Burrell是从别人口中得知一场即将到来的灾难。
2.Hearing what had happened, Burrell .
A.called the centre to collect pictures
B.reported the event to the TV station
C.went to the flooded areas immediately
D.gave orders for work to be started at once
解析:选D 细节理解题。根据第三段内容可知,Burrell在得知灾情后,发出了立即投入工作的指示。
3.It seemed that the young boy .
A.was a great help
B.had a happy ending
C.looked for his finger for hours alone
D.was hurt while unloading the dumpster
解析:选B 推理判断题。根据倒数第二段中的Luckily, the finger was found and it was reattached (重新接上)可知,那个小男孩的手指接上了,结局很美好。
4.We can infer from the last paragraph that Burrell .
A.thinks highly of people in Calgary
B.has received praise from Calgarians
C.thinks it's his duty to protect the city
D.feels the firefighters need more training
解析:选A 推理判断题。根据最后一段中的he says the city couldn't have done it without hundreds of unsung heroes和I think that is what Calgarians need to be proud of可知,Burrell对Calgary的市民在抗洪救灾过程中的表现表示高度赞扬。