(2016·北京卷·完形填空)
話題:救援 詞數:433 W 難度:★★★
A Race Against Death
①It was a cold January in 1925 in Nome, Alaska. The town was cut off from the rest of the world due to heavy snow.
②On the 20th of that month, Dr.Welch examined a sick boy, Billy, and knew he had( diphtheria, a deadly infectious(傳染的)disease mainly affecting children). The children of Nome would be helpless if it struck the town. Dr. Welch needed medicine as soon as possible (to stop other kids from getting sick). However, the closest supply was over 1,000 miles away, in Anchorage.
③How could the medicine get to Nome? The town’s harbor was already full of ice, so it couldn’t come by ship. Cars and horses couldn’t travel on the snowy roads. Jet airplanes and big trucks didn’t exist yet.
④ By January 26,Billy and three other children had died. Twenty more were sick. Nome’s town officials came up with a(n) plan. They would have the medicine sent by rail from Anchorage to Nenana. From there, dogsled(狗拉雪橇)drivers—known as“mushers”—would carry it to Nome in a relay(接力).
⑤The race began on January 27.The first musher, Shannon, picked up the medicine from the train at Nenana and rode all night. When he handed the medicine to the next musher, Shannon’s face was black from the extreme cold.
⑥On January 31,a musher (named Seppala) had to
cross a frozen body of water (called Norton Sound). It was the most dangerous part of the journey. Norton Sound was covered with ice, (which could sometimes break up without warning). If that happened, Seppala might fall into the icy water below. He would die ,and so would the sick children of Nome. But Seppala made it across.⑦A huge snowstorm hit on February 1.A musher named Kaasen had to brave this storm. At one point, huge piles of snow blocked his way . He had to leave the trail(雪橇痕跡)to get around them. Conditions were so bad that it was impossible for him to find the trail again. The only hope was Balto, Kaasen’s lead dog. Balto put his nose to the ground,( trying to find the smell of other dogs (that had traveled on the trail)). If Balto failed, it would mean disaster for Nome. The minutes passed by. Suddenly, Balto began to run .He had found the trail.
⑧At 5:30 am on February 2,Kaasen and his dogs arrived in Nome. Within minutes, Dr.Welch had the medicine. He quickly gave it to the sick children. All of them recovered.
Nome had been saved.
2016年北京高考英語完形填空
本文是一篇記敘文。講述了在阿拉斯加的一個小村莊Nome被冰雪覆蓋的時候，一名醫生診斷一個小男孩感染了致命的傳染性疾病，在水路不通的情況下，村莊的趕雪橇的人們通過雪橇接力，把藥品運到村子，拯救了整個村莊的故事。
A Race Against Death
與死神的賽跑 (生死時速)
①1925年，北阿拉斯加的一個寒冷的一月。由於大雪的原因，這個鎮子與世隔絕
②在那個月也就是一月的20號，Welch醫生檢查了一個生病的小男孩，瞭解到他得了白喉，一種致命的傳染性疾病，主要感染者為小孩。Nome的小孩們會很無助，如果這種疾病侵襲這個小鎮的話。Welch醫生急需藥品來防止其他的孩子們感染這種疾病。然而，最近的供給點在1000多英里遠的安克雷奇。
③藥品要如何才能到到Nome呢？這個鎮子的港口已經到處都是冰，因此乘船是無法到達的。汽車和馬匹在雪路上不能通行。噴氣飛機和大型貨車在那是還沒出現。
④在1月26日以前，比利和其它三個小孩去世了。又有20個小孩病了。Nome的官員提出一個計劃。藥品可以被鐵路從安克雷奇派送到尼吶吶，然後由趕狗拉雪橇的人用雪橇接力帶著它，運到Nome.
⑤這個爭分奪秒的行程在1月27日開始了。第一個趕狗拉雪橇的人，Shannon，在尼吶吶的一輛貨車上接來藥品，連夜趕路。當他把這些藥品交給第二個趕狗拉雪橇的人，Shannon的臉都因為極度的寒冷凍紫了。
⑥在一月31日，一個名叫Seppala的趕狗拉雪橇的人必須經過一個結冰的水灣，名叫諾頓灣。諾頓灣是這次行程最危險的部分。水灣被冰覆蓋，這些冰可能沒有任何預兆就破裂。如果冰真的破裂了，那麼賽普拉就會掉入冰冷的水中。他會死掉，那麼Nome生病的孩子們也會死掉，但是賽普拉安全的穿過了這個水灣。
⑦在2月1日，一場嚴重的暴風雪侵襲了這個地區。名叫卡森的趕雪橇的人不得不勇敢的面對這場暴風雪。一度，成堆的雪封堵了他的路。因此為了繞過這些雪堆，他不得不脫離雪橇痕跡。可情況非常糟糕以至於他不可能再找到雪橇痕跡。唯一的希望就寄託到Balto,卡森的領頭狗身上。Balto用鼻子在地上嗅，努力找到其它的狗留下來的痕跡。如果Balto失敗了，也就是沒能找到路，那對Nome就意味著災難。時間一點點過去了，突然間Balto開始跑起來，它找到了雪橇痕跡，也就是找到了通往目的地的路。
⑧在2月2日的早上5點半，卡森和他的狗到達了Nome. 很快，Welch醫生就拿到了藥。他立刻把藥用在了生病的孩子們身上。孩子們都痊癒了。Nome 得救了。
閱讀更多 高考英語提分大本營 的文章
