A Narrow Escape
Shortly after the war, my brother and I were invited to spend a few days’ holiday with an uncle who had just returned from abroad. He had rented a cottage in the country, although he hardly spent much time there. We understood the reason for this after our arrival: the cottage had no comfortable furniture in it. Many of the windows were broken and the roof leaked , making the whole house wet.
On our first evening, we sat around the fire after supper listening to the stories our uncle told of his many adventures in distant countries. I was so tired after the long train journey that I would have preferred to go to bed; but I could not bear to miss any of my uncle’s exciting stories, He was just in the middle of describing a rather terrifying experience he had once had when there was a loud crash from the bedroom above, the one where my brother and I were going to sleep.
When we got to the top of the stairs and opened the bedroom door, a strange sight met our eyes. A large part of the ceiling had fallen right on to the pillow of my bed.
The uncle disliked the rented cottage for the reason that _____.
A.there were no beds in it |
B.the windows were broken and the roof leaked |
C.it was too old for him to live in |
D.it was very rainy in the area |
On the first evening, the writer was very sleepy, _____.
A.but he did his best not to miss any stories |
B.so he had to go to bed early |
C.because he was tired of his uncle’s stories |
D.and he was gradually falling asleep while listening |
If the writer had not been able to stay up late, _____.
A.his uncle would have stopped telling stories |
B.his uncle would have been very happy |
C.he would have been injured or killed |
D.his brother wouldn’t have been, either |
A narrow escape means ___.
A.A person runs away from a danger through a narrow door. |
B.A person escapes a danger by luck. |
C.A person escapes a danger easily. |
D.A person runs away from a danger easily. |