It was a quiet village in which there was a military
camp. It was far from the towns and cities and there were some high mountains
around. Of course it was a good place for training the new soldiers. But it was
difficult for the young men to go outside. Mr. White, an officer of forty, was
strict with them and he hardly let them leave the camp.
Once Mr.
White was ill in bed. He couldn't work, so a young officer, Mr. Hunt, began to
train the new soldiers instead of him. He knew the young men well and let nine
soldiers go to the nearest town to have a holiday. But night fell and none came
back to the camp. He was worried about it and stood at the gate. It was five to
twelve when Mr. Hunt decided to go to the town and see what was happening with
the young men. He started the car quickly and set off. At that moment the nine
soldiers came back. It seemed they were all drunk. Of course they found the
officer was angry.
"I'm
sorry, sir," said the first soldier. "I left the town on time. But
something was wrong with my bus on my way here. I had to buy a horse and made it
run fast. Bad luck! It died and I had to run back."
And the
other seven soldiers said they were late for the same reasons. It was the last
soldier's turn. He said, "I'm sorry, sir. I got on a bus on time,
but…"
Having heard
this, the officer became even angrier and stopped him at once. He called out,
"If you say something was wrong with your bus, I'll punish you at
once!"
"No,
no, sir," said the young man. "My bus was all right, but their horses
were in the way!"
1.The military camp was built in the village to
_______.
A.stop the
soldiers going to towns
B.stop the
soldiers meeting their friends
C.train the new
soldiers
D.make the
young men live quietly
2.The nine soldiers returned to the camp late because
_______.
A.something was
wrong with their buses
B.their horses
died on the way back
C.it took them
much time to run back
D.they all had
drunk much in the town
3.The underlined phrase in the way in the last
paragraph means ______.
A.stopping
somebody from moving
B.getting drunk
C.standing on the
road
D.running very
fast