二、短文填空
请认真阅读下面短文,并根据各题所给首字母的提示,写出一个合适的英语单词完整的、正确的形式,使短文通顺。

(2025·扬州期末改编)The three children were walking along the rail. Suddenly, a big strange 1. n came to their ears.
"It's a landslide(山崩)," Roberta said. "It 2. r a lot last week and the earth is wet and soft."
"Look, it is moving and bringing the trees 3. d to the rail," Phyllis pointed to the hillside(山坡). "There will be an accident(事故) if the train hits them. We must do something."
"But how do we do that?" Peter said, worriedly. "The next train will arrive in five 4. m."
"We can run towards the train and wave to the driver," Phyllis said.
"He won't think there is anything wrong," Roberta said. "Because we 5. a wave to him."
"Yes, we need something red to wave this time," Peter said. "Red is for something 6. d."
"My petticoat(衬裙) is red," Phyllis said. "I will tear pieces off."
"Mother will be angry if you do that," Roberta said, looking at Phyllis. "And petticoats are 7. e."
"Many people may lose their 8. l if there is an accident," Peter said in a calm voice.
"Petticoats aren't 9. i." Phyllis nodded and began to tear strips from the bottom of her petticoat. "We also need sticks to tie the strips to," Peter said.
Then the children ran to a nearby 10. t. With his knife, Peter cut off three thin branches and tied the red strips to them. "We have red flags!" he shouted.
Now the children stood in a row, waving their bright flags to wait for the train to come.
—Taken from *The Railway Children*

【语篇解读】本文主要介绍了三个孩子在发现山崩可能导致火车事故的危险后，迅速用红色衬裙布条制作信号旗，向火车司机发出警告。
1. noise 2. rained 3. down 4. minutes
5. always 6. dangerous 7. expensive 8. lives
9. important 10. tree

【分析】
本题为短文填空，需结合上下文语境、首字母提示及词汇知识填写合适单词，解题思路如下：
1. 第1空：由“传入耳朵”及首字母n，推断是“声音”类名词；
2. 第2空：由“泥土又湿又软”及首字母r，推断上周的天气情况；
3. 第3空：结合语境“山崩带树到轨道”，用固定搭配及首字母d判断；
4. 第4空：由“下一班火车5……后到”及首字母m，推断时间单位；
5. 第5空：由“司机不会察觉异常”及首字母a，推断挥手的频率；
6. 第6空：由“需要红色物品挥手”及首字母d，推断红色的象征意义；
7. 第7空：由“妈妈会生气”及首字母e，推断衬裙的属性；
8. 第8空：结合语境“事故可能导致的后果”，用固定搭配及首字母l判断；
9. 第9空：由“衬裙与生命的对比”及首字母i，推断衬裙的重要性；
10. 第10空：由“砍树枝”及首字母t，推断砍树枝的地点。
【解析】
1. 第1空：根据“came to their ears”及首字母n，此处指“噪音”，填noise；
2. 第2空：根据“the earth is wet and soft”及首字母r，上周下雨导致泥土湿软，时态为一般过去时，填rained；
3. 第3空：固定搭配“bring down”表示“使倒下”，结合语境山崩带树到轨道，填down；
4. 第4空：“in five minutes”表示“五分钟后”，符合火车到达的时间语境，填minutes；
5. 第5空：根据“司机不会察觉异常”及首字母a，可知我们总是向司机挥手，填always；
6. 第6空：红色象征危险，符合警示火车的语境，首字母d，填dangerous；
7. 第7空：根据“妈妈会生气”及首字母e，衬裙是昂贵的，填expensive；
8. 第8空：固定搭配“lose one's lives”表示“失去生命”，首字母l，填lives；
9. 第9空：结合语境生命比衬裙重要，首字母i，填important；
10. 第10空：根据“砍树枝”及首字母t，是附近的树，填tree。
【答案】
1. noise 2. rained 3. down 4. minutes 5. always 6. dangerous 7. expensive 8. lives 9. important 10. tree
【知识点】
短文填空（首字母提示）、词汇运用
【点评】
本题改编自名著《铁路少年》，考查学生对上下文语境的理解及基础词汇的运用能力，需结合语境和首字母推断单词，难度适中。
【难度系数】
0.7