On August 27, 1783, the people of the village of Gomesse, in France, looked up into the sky and saw a strange and terrible animal. It was huge and round, flying down from the sky. It landed in the field just outside the village. It was clear to the people of Gomesse that they had to defend themselves. The animal was clearly some kind of terrible “spirit”. They were afraid of the spirit but they were also very brave. They rushed out into the field and fought the animal with knives and sticks and farming tools. The “spirit” made terrible noises, like an animal that can breathe only with great difficulty.
But that was not the worst thing. When the villagers cut into the spirit's skin, it gave off a horrible smell, and even after the villagers had cut the thing open, it still moved. Finally the villagers tied it to a horse. The horse ran through the fields and the “Spirit” was torn to pieces. What was the terrible spirit? The answer is that it was one of the first “hot air balloons”. Its skin was made of silk and a kind of rubber. The terrible smell was the hot air inside the balloon. When the air got out through the cuts in the skin, it also caused the horrible noises.
60. The terrible noises were made because ______.
A. the spirit could hardly breathe
B. the spirit wanted to frighten the villagers
C. the spirit was afraid of the villagers
D. hot air got out through the skin
61. The terrible smell was ______.
A. the smell of silk and rubber
B. the hot air inside the balloon.
C. the smell of burnt house
D. the smell of burnt crops
62. The spirit didn't stop moving until ______.
A. the hot air in it ran out completely
B. the villagers cut into its skin
C. the villagers cut it open
D. it gave off a horrible smell
63. The villagers tied the spirit to a horse ______.
A. shortly after they caught sight of the spirit
B. because it didn't stop moving though it was cut open.
C. after it was torn to pieces
D. because the villagers wanted to take it away