2013年江苏高考英语抢分训练236.docVIP

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。 A In the lumberyard by the lake, where trees were turned into boards for construction work, there was an old brick building two floors high, and all around the outside walls were great piles of soft sawdust (锯木屑). That afternoon, bored with having nothing else to do, all the fellows followed Michael up the ladder to the roof of the old building and they sat there with their legs hanging over the edge. Suddenly Michael said, “I dare you to jump down,” and without thinking about it, he pushed himself off the roof and fell on the sawdust, where he lay rolling around and laughing. “I dare you all!” he shouted. “You’re all cowards (胆小鬼),” he said, encouraging them to follow him. Still laughing, he watched them looking down from the roof, white-faced and hesitant, and then one by one they jumped and got up grinning (咧嘴笑) with relief. In the hot afternoon sunlight they all lay on the sawdust pile telling jokes till at last one of the fellows said, “Come on up the old roof again and jump down.” There wasn’t much enthusiasm among them, but they all went up to the roof again and began to jump off in a determined, desperate way till only Michael was left. Michael wanted to jump down there and be with them, but he remained on the edge of the roof, wetting his lips, with a silly grin on his face, wondering why it had not seemed such a long drop the first time. For a while the fellows thought he was only fooling them, but then they saw him fixing his fist tight. He tried to count to ten and then jump, and when that failed, he tried to take a long breath and close his eyes. In a while the fellows grew tired of waiting and began to laugh at him. “Who did this in the first place? What’s the matter with you?” It was near dinner time and all of them got up and walked away. For a long time Michael remained on the edge of the roof, staring unhappily and steadily at the ground. His clothes were wet from nervous sweating. At last he close