Suddenly another thought went through Kate's mind like an electric shock. An express train was due to go past about thirty minutes later. If it were not stopped, that long train, full of passengers, would fall into the stream. “Someone must go to the station and warn the station-master，” Kate thought. But who was to go? She would have to go herself. There was no one else.

    In wind and rain she started on her difficult way. Soon she was at the bridge that crossed the Des Moines River, a bridge also built of wood, just like the bridge across Honey Creek. The storm had not washed this away, but there was no footpath across it. She would have to cross it by stepping from sleeper (枕木)to sleeper. With great care she began the dangerous crossing, sometimes on her hands and knees, hardly daring to look down between the sleepers into the wild flood waters below. If she should slip, she would fall between the sleepers, into the rapidly flowing stream.

At last -- she never knew how long it had taken her一 she felt solid ground under her feet. But there was no time to rest. She still had to run more than half a mile and had only a few minutes left. Unless she reached the station before the express did, many, many lives would be lost.

    She did reach the station just as the train came into sight. Fortunately the station-master was standing outside. “The bridge is down! Stop the train! Oh, please stop it!” Kate shouted breathlessly.

    The station-master went pale. He rushed into the station building and came back with a signal light. He waved the red light as the train came into the station. It was not a second too early.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

SM Card Cutter

Change regular SM cards to smaller SIM cards.

    Did you know you can cut a regular size phone SIM card to a smaller size SM card and it will still work?This tool will help you do it.Just stick a SIM card in it,press it down like a stapler(订书机).A perfectly shaped smaller SIM is there.I've used it many times when swapping SIMs from one phone to another.

03/7/17-Mark Frauenfelder

Profi Cheese Slicer

    Uses a thin wire to slice up to medium-hard cheeses in four inch sections.

    I may own every cheese slicer ever made.I prefer a wire type cheese cutter so I can cut slices that work well on a piece of bread and sandwich.

    This cheese slicer is great for both tasks.It even has adjustable tension on the two cutting wires.A point of information: I did break a wire cutting a very hard piece of cheese with black pepper.Good news,the wire is replaceable,and I was able to purchase new wires to fix it.Maybe best to use on softer cheeses.Lessons learned.But, highly recommended for every other use except for those extremely hard cheeses.

03/6/17-Kent Bames

Ash Bucket(桶子）

Bucket with lid keeps your fireplace(壁炉）clear of ashes.

    I purchased this ash bucket recommended by my friend and have found it invaluable.Previously I had an old bucket that got left outside and usually filled up with rain and became a mess to clean.This ash bucket has a raised bottom and thermal insulation(隔热层）to prevent any accidental hot coals in your ash to damage your floor or cause a fire.You can store this bucket indoors since the lid is nice and tight.

03/3/17-Seth Wilson

    Colorado officials will stick to a plan to kill some mountain lions and bears to support the state's dropping mule deer (长耳鹿) population.

    Wednesday's vote permits organizations to kill up to 25 black bears and 15 mountain lions per year in the central and western parts of the state. The project will run for three years, to be followed by a six-year study of how deer populations respond to fewer predators(捕食者).

    The population of Colorado's mule deer has suffered a puzzling, years-long drop to about 450,000, which state officials said was about 110,000 fewer than there should be. A 2014 state study tied it to seven causes, including predators, whose number has greatly increased in recent years.

    Some experts, however, said the state should focus first on the human-led destruction(破坏) of mule deer habitat(栖息地). “The drop of the mule deer population is obviously not a simple problem with simple causes,” Brian Kurzel, director of the National Wildlife Federation, said. “By far, the greatest problem—the one that I think deserves the most attention in any science-based study—is habitat quantity and quality.”

    Kurzel pointed out that the U.S Bureau of Land Management recently agreed to create 15,000 new oil and gas wells somewhere in western Cororado, which was often called “the mule-deer factory”. There, the number of mule deer has fallen to about 30,000 from more than 100,000 in the early 1980s. Though state officials have known oil and gas development affects the population of mule deer, they didn't go against the plan.

    Other causes like building highways, population growth and human activities are also curbing the mule deer population, according to the study.

    State Parks and Wildlife officials don't necessarily disagree. They started a $4.5 million program as a way to gather research for later decisions.

    Chocolate is good for your heart, skin and brain. Usually, people think that chocolate is bad for their health. They describe chocolate as “something to die for” or say “death by chocolate”. Now they should bite their tongues! Evidence is showing that some kinds of chocolate are actually good for you in the following ways:

    A happier heart

    Scientists at Harvard University recently examined 136 studies on cocoa—the main ingredient in chocolate and found that it does seem to strengthen the heart．Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood flow. These benefits are the result of coca's chemicals, which seem to prevent both cell damage and inflammation (炎症)．

    Better blood pressure

    If yours is high, chocolate may help. Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts University recently found that people with high blood pressure who ate 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate per day for two weeks saw their blood pressure drop quickly.

    Muscle magic

    Chocolate milk may help you recover after a hard workout (锻炼). In a small study at Indiana University, people who drank chocolate milk between workouts did better on a tiredness test than those who had some sports drinks.

    Better for your skin

    German researchers gave 24 women a half-cup of special cocoa every day. After three months, the women's skin was moister (滑润的) and smoother. The research shows that chocolate helps protect and increase blood flow to the skin, improving its appearance．

Brain gains

    It sounds almost too good to be true, but research suggests that chocolate may improve your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving by increasing blood flow to the brain．

    Simpson is 53, "not sporty" and has suffered from asthma all her life. Two years ago her son Jay, now 10, took up BMX (自行车越野赛). "I enjoyed watching him and thought I'd like to try it," Simpson recalls. "But I didn't want to embarrass myself. I hadn't ridden for over 40 years."

    Then she noticed a session for women and girls at Burgess Park BMX Track in Peckham, south-east London, where Jay trained. This season Simpson raced at the London BMX series and finished third in her category.

    "It was the most worrying experience of my life. But it was also exhilarating," she says cheerfully. "My son is proud of me. We now share a real love for the sport. It has brought us closer together."

    Since becoming part of the Olympic Games in 2008, the popularity of BMX has risen. A program introduced in London in 2011 by the sports development charity Access Sport has seen tracks built in several London regions, backed up with investment in coaching, and the program is being rolled out to Bristol.

    Wright's children Skye, 11 and Xander, 10 are sponsored riders who have represented Great Britain in every world championship since 2014. Wright says she was motivated to start BMX herself out of an interest aroused by watching so much of it. "It's an eye-opener to share your children's interests," she explains. "You comprehend what they go through in a much more direct way. It adds another dimension to your relationship."

    It is also a high-impact sport and the risks are fairly obvious. "I totally get the fear," says Emma, 51, a BMX exercise coach and cycling instructor. "It's the fear of doing something new, of getting hurt. But I say 'Come and give it a try.' The chance of having an accident is slim, and you can spend time on the flat to improve your confidence."

The summer I turned 16, my father gave me his car — a gift wasted on me at that age. The important thing was that Hannah and I could drive around.

    Hannah was my best friend, a year younger but much taller, almost five foot ten. "Hannah's a knockout," my mother always said. And that summer she signed with a modeling agency. She was already doing runway work.

    A month after my birthday, Hannah and I went to the movies. On the way home, we stopped at the McDonald's drive-through, putting the fries on the seat between us to share. "Let's ride around a while," I said. It was a clear night, full moon slung low over the desert. Taking a turning too fast, I plowed (撞)through a neighbor's wall and drove into a full-grown tree.

    We were taken in separate ambulances. I'd cracked(使裂开)my cheek bone; Hannah's forehead had split wide open. End of her modeling career. What would I say to her?

    When her mother, Sharon, came into my hospital room, I started to cry. She sat beside me and took my hand. "I rear-ended(追尾) my best friend when I was your age, "she said, "I totaled her car and mine."

    "I'm so sorry." I said.

    "You're both alive," she said, "The rest is window dressing. I forgive you. Hannah will too."

Sharon's forgiveness allowed Hannah and me to stay friends throughout high school and college, to be at each other's weddings … The scars are so faded that no one else would notice, but in the sunlight I can still see it just below her hairline — for me, a mark of grace(优雅).