Question

Are you a man or a mouse? When people ask this question they want to know whether you think you are a _______ person or a coward(懦夫). But you will never really know the answer to this question _______ you are tested in real life. Some people think they are brave but when they come face to face with real _______, they act like cowards. Others think of themselves as cowards, but when they meet danger, they act like heroes.

Lenny had always thought of himself as a _______ person. He got worried before examinations. He worried about his job and health. All he wanted in life was to be safe and healthy. Then, on January 15th, 2002, a plane crashed into the Potomac River in Washington. Lenny went to the river to see what was happening. He saw a woman in the _______ water. Lenny did not feel afraid. He kept very calm and did a very dangerous thing. He jumped into the Potomac River, _______ to the woman, and kept her head above the water. Seventy-eight people died that day. Thanks to Lenny, it was not seventy-nine.

When you are in a very _______ situation and feel afraid, the body automatically(自动地) produces a chemical in the blood. The chemical is called adrenalin(肾上腺素). _______ adrenalin in the blood system, you actually feel stronger and stronger and are ready to fight or run away. However, when you are absolutely terrified(完全的恐慌), the body can produce too much adrenalin. When this _______, the muscles become very hard and you find you can’t move at all. You are then paralyzed (使无能为力) with fear. This is why when we are very frightened(受惊吓的), we sometimes say we’re ＂petrified＂. This word comes from the Greek word ＂petros＂, which means ＂stone＂. We are ________ frightened that we become stonelike.

1.A. brave    B. real    C. hard    D. certain

2.A. when    B. until    C. after    D. once

3.A. life    B. question    C. mouse    D. danger

4.A. useful    B. brave    C. nervous    D. terrible

5.A. fresh    B. poisonous    C. warm    D. ice-cold

6.A. went    B. helped    C. spoke    D. swam

7.A. dangerous    B. comfortable    C. different    D. favorable

8.A. With    B. Without    C. For    D. Like

9.A. gets    B. disappears    C. happens    D. goes

10.A. really    B. very    C. such    D. so

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.D

4.C

5.D

6.D

7.A

8.A

9.C

10.D

【解析】本文从Lenny的故事介绍了懦弱的人在关键时刻也会表现的很勇敢，并且介绍这种情况的生理原因。

1.A. brave勇敢的，B. real真的，C. hard困难的，D. certain确定的，和a coward (懦夫)对应的是brave。故选A。

2.A. when 当….时候，B. until直到，C. after在….后面，D. once 一旦，until和否定词连用，直到…才…, 故选B。

3.A. life生活，B. question问题，C. mouse 老鼠，D. danger危险，根据后面的they act like cowards可知是面对危险。故选D。

4.A. useful 有用的，B. brave 勇敢的，C. nervous紧张的，D. bored厌烦的，从后面的got worried 可知是nervous，故选C。

5.A. fresh新鲜的，B. poisonous有毒的，C. warm温暖的，D. ice-cold冰冷的，因为是一月份，所以是ice-cold，冰冷的。故选D。

6.A. went去，B. helped帮助，C. spoke说话，D. swam游泳， jumped into the Potomac，swam和kept her head above the water. 是并列动作，故选D。

7.A. dangerous 危险的，B. comfortable 舒服的，C. different不同的，D. interesting有趣的，从后面的feel afraid 可知选dangerous，选A。

8.A. With随着，B. Without没有，C. For 为了，D. Like 象，with+宾语+介词短语。血液里面带有肾上激素，你实际上会感觉更加坚强。选A。

9.A. gets得到，B. disappears消失，C. happens 发生，D. goes去，当这个发生的时候，你的肌肉会更硬，选C。

10.A. really真的，B. very非常，C. such这样，D. so因此，我们是如此害怕以至于就会象石头一样。使用了so…that句型，such后面应该修饰名词，选D。