B
The man traveling in the back of the ambulance which was running at a high speed along the streets of Baltimore that morning in 2008 had no business to be alive.By everything that was reasonable,and there were plenty of such things before,he should have been very dead indeed.But he wasn’t.As the people in the hospital pointed out after they had examined him,he was only slightly hurt.Yet he had just fallen 150 feet down a hotel lift shaft(电梯通道)!
Unknown to the man,two things had occurred which were to affect his life that day.On the thirteenth f1oor of the hotel, somebody had carelessly left the lift gate open.Down in the basement, a pipe had burst and,it had flooded the bottom of the lift shaft to a depth of two feet.
Modern lifts have all sorts of fail-safe system to prevent accidents,but this was ancient equipment unreliable,slow,dangerous,and suitable material to recycle.
The man had plenty of things to occupy his mind that morning. He had overslept. The hotel had forgotten to call him and now he was late for an important business appointment. He dressed quickly, shaved hurriedly, took hold of his briefcase and hurried off down the hotel corridor.
Good! The life gate was open. The life must be there. He need not press the button and wait while the large, clumsy life made its way upwards. Without looking or thinking, he stepped out into space. The lift cage was, in fact, one floor above him on the fourteenth. The would which he had walked was a narrow space of not very fresh sir, ending 150 feet below in two feet of dirty water.
The man fell, making his journey to the ground at a speed he had never dreamed of. Confused patterns, a rush of air, time enough to be afraid, split-second thoughts of death, then-crash!
Perhaps this gave him the record for some sort of high-diving act. No doubt in future he always looked before he jumped. Certainly be learnt that this was no way to save time. The experts said that those two feet of water had saved his life.
59.What do we learn about the man?
A.He fell from the 13th floor. B.He was hit by an ambulance.
C.He got caught in a serious flood. D.He made a record for high-diving.
60.By “……had no business to be alive”,the writer means that the man_______.
A.had missed his business appointment B.was alive with excitement
C.was alive and this was surprising D.didn’t do any business
61.Tile lift did not have a fail-safe system because it was____________.
A.narrow B.slow C.1arge D.old
62.Which of the following was NOT the cause of the accident?
A.A pipe burst. B.The man overslept
C.The hotel forgot to call him D.Someone left the lift door open