When a big ship is in very rough(不平坦的) sea, it has to be able to bend(弯) a little, otherwise it may break in two. If one end of the ship is on the top of one huge wave, and the other end is on the top of another, with the middle of the ship hanging in between; or if one huge wave comes up under the middle of the ship, leaving the two ends hanging, the ship's own weight will break its back if it is quite stiff(硬的).

　　To make a big ship elastic(有弹性的) enough to avoid (避开) this danger, it has joints where the sections of the ship come together above the water-line, and these joints (连接处) open and shut slightly as the waves lift one section(部分) of the ship or another. This is enough to save the ship from breaking into pieces.

　　One day a sailor was walking along a passage-way in a big ship during a storm when he was surprised to see a boy sitting comfortably in a chair at the end of the passage-way, which was opposite one of the ship's joints. The boy had a bag of nuts beside him, and every time the ship was lifted by a wave and the joint opened, he put a nut in it. As the ship came down again, the joint closed and cracked(压碎) the nut, gently but firmly. The boy then took it out and put the next one in as the joint opened again.

1．What does a big ship have to do when it is in very rough sea?

2．If one end of the ship is on the top of one huge wave, and the other end is on the top of another, with the middle of the ship hanging in between, what will happen to the ship if it is quite stiff?

3．Why does a big ship have joints?

4．What do these joints do?

5．Where was a sailor walking during the storm in this story?

6．What was he surprised to see?

7．What did the boy have beside him?

8．What did he do?

9．How was the nut cracked?

10．What did the boy do then?

完形填空

　　This morning, a boy of twelve saw a small fire at one end of the S. S. Panama. Pua Parori (1) home very early to see the ships at port (港口) Richards. It was a good thing that he (2) because there was (3) around, and in no time, the small fire grew (4) big.

　　Young Rua stood at the foot of the ladder (5) to the ship, and shouted at the (6) of his voice(声音). He woke up the port worker (7) nearby, who were still (8) .

　　The S. S. Panama was one of six big (9) in port at the time. It was (10) paper. What's more, the S. S. panama was (11) oil from ports in the Far East. The fire burned (12) boxes of paper. That (13) of the ship was now (14) with smoke. But thank to Rua parori, the fire did't (15) the oi1．It was put out soon.

1．

[　　]

2．

[　　]

3．

[　　]

4．

[　　]

5．

[　　]

6．

[　　]

7．

[　　]

8．

[　　]

9．

[　　]

10．

[　　]

11．

[　　]

12．

[　　]

13．

[　　]

14．

[　　]

15．

[　　]

完形填空

The great ship, the Titanic, sailed for New York from England on April 12th, 1912. The ship had sixteen watertight compartments (密封舱). Even if two of them were broken, she would    1   be able to stay on the water.

Four days after    2   , while the Titanic was sailing    3   the icy waters of the North Atlantic, a huge ice mountain suddenly appeared. The great ship turned hard. The Titanic turned just in time, and just missed the big    4   of ice beside her. Suddenly there was a trembling (颤抖的)   5   from below and the captain went down to see what had    6  . The noise had been so weak that    7   thought the ship had been broken. But the captain    8  that the ship was sinking (下沉) very quickly, for five of the sixteen watertight compartments had already been broken! The order (命令) to    9   the ship was given and hundreds of people jumped into the icy water. As there were not enough lifeboats for everybody, 1,500 lives were    10  . Although the sad story has been so many years, people still remember it clearly.