阅读理解。
One Saturday afternoon in February, 1943, a farmer in Mexico stopped working for a moment and looked
across his fields of corn. Suddenly he saw a thin line of white smoke curling up out of his field, about 200 feet
from where he stood. As he went toward the smoke to see what it was, he heard a strange noise. The line of
smoke became bigger. It looked as if some great force were pushing it up into the sky.
The farmer rushed home to get his wife. While he was urging his wife to hurry from the house, the earth
shook violently. When he stood up after the earth stopped shaking, he looked across the field and saw that great
flames were rising from his cornfield. A volcano was being born!
They hurried across the shaking earth to the village of Particutin, which was toward their farm. They found
the village was seriously destroyed and the road from the village was filled with frightened people hurrying to
safety. Particutin did not become dark that night. The volcano lighted up the sky for miles around. Flames
rushed out of the ground. The volcano threw hot stones a thousand feet through the air. Great explosion shook
the earth and heavy black ashes fell from the sky, covering the roofs in Mexico city, 180 miles away.
But that was not all. On the third evening a float of lava (火山岩) began to boil up from the centre of the
volcano. It came over the edge in a heavy flow, 2 000 feet wide, and travelled slowly across the valley, bringing
certain death to everything that could not move from its path.
1. From the passage we can conclude EXCEPT that _____.
A. the volcano threw out a lot of ashes and hot stones
B. the volcano lasted several days
C. many people had to escape from the village
D. it caused many deaths and great loss
2. You can find the passage in a _____.
A. newspaper
B. government report
C. leaflet for travellers
D. handbook
3. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. At the beginning the farmer heard a strange cry.
B. The farmer was working in the field when the disaster happened.
C. The farmer's wife was working in the field at that moment.
D. The village was badly damaged.
4. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. The damage of a volcano.
B. A terrible volcano.
C. An unforgettable memory.
D. A farmer's experience.
