Across the Deserts

　　The SaharaDesertis the largest desert in the world. It stretches across Africa fromSenegaltoEgypt. TheSaharaDesertis an unfriendly environment. During the day it"s very hot, and at night it’s sometimes very cold. It is also difficult to find water in theSahara.

　　In 2006, Kevin Lin, Ray Zahab, and Charlie Engle decided to do something very difficult. They made the decision to run across the Sahara Desert 4,300 miles (6,920km). It seemed impossible to do, but they wanted to try. The three men liked to test themselves, and this would be a very big test.

　　On the morning of November 2, Kevin, Ray, and Charlie started their trip across theSahara. Every morning they began running at 5:00. At11 a.m. they stopped and rested until 5 p.m. Then they ran again until 9:30 in the evening. Each day they ran about 40 miles (64 km). Every day it was the same thing. They got up and ran. They listened to music on their iPods, and they ran and ran.

　　Kevin, Ray, and Charlie needed to eat a lot of food during their trip. Most people need about 2,000 calories of food each day. Kevin, Ray, and Charlie needed between 6,000 and 9,000 calories every day. That"s a lot of food! They also needed to drink a lot of water.

　　The three men had some problems on their trip, and many times they wanted to quit and go home. It was often very hot (140°F/60°C) during the day, and the heat made them sick. Their legs and feet hurt. Sometimes it was very windy, and they couldn"t see. One time they got lost. But they didn"t quit. After 111 days, Kevin, Ray; and Charlie successfully finished their trip across theSaharaDesert. They hugged each other and put their hands in the water of theRed Sea. Then they ran to a hotel to take a long shower.

　　词汇：

　　Stretch / strɛtʃ / v. 延伸，伸展

　　Calorie / "kælərɪ / n. 卡(路里)，小卡，大卡

　　Quit / kwɪt / v. 停止，放

　　注释：

Sometimes they couldn"t see the road because it was windy.

A:Right B:Wrong C:mentioned

— Mr Smith must have been to your home this morning.
— No, he ______ ,because he didn't know my address.

A:couldn't B:can't C:mustn't D:may not

They (couldn’t) decide (whether) they should (leave) the theater or (to stay there).（　）

A:couldn’t B:whether C:leave D:to stay there

I （　） fill in the form now, shouldn’t I

A:could B:couldn’t C:should D:shouldn’t

Gerard Croiset from Holland could "see" what was going on somewhere else and he used his gift (天赋) to help the police to find missing people.
Mr. Sandelius lived with his 24 years old daughter Carol in Topeka. One day, Carol disappeared (消失) . The police looked for her everywhere and they showed her photos to everybody, but they couldn’t find her. After eight weeks there was nothing else that the police could do.
Mr. Sandelius was ready to try anything to find his daughter. He heard about Croiset and he called him. "Can you help me" he asked.
Croiset would never say no to people in need of help. He told Mr. Sandelius that Carol was alive (活着的) .
I see her somewhere near water and small boats. Now I see her riding with someone in a red car. Don’t worry. You will know something in six days.
Five days passed and Mr. Sandelius still didn’t hear anything. On the sixth day, early in the morning, he came to the first floor. He saw that someone was sitting in the room. It was his daughter.
Croiset "saw" Carol from 8,000 km away. He told the police where she was. And they brought her home.

A: Because the police couldn’t find Carol. B: Because Carol didn’t want to come home. C:Because Carol couldn’t find her way back home.

If you ______ that late movie last night, you wouldn't be sleepy.

A:haven't watched B:hadn't watched C:didn't watch D:couldn't watch

California utilities couldn't get suppliers to sell them power because ______.

A:the suppliers have no power to sell B:California don't really need the power C:the governor needs to approve the sale D:the utilities have no credit

— Mr Smith must have been to your home this morning.
— No, he ______ ,because he didn't know my address.

A:couldn't B:can't C:mustn't D:may not