Mary and Peter were having a picnic with some friends near a river when Mary notice an object overhead¹. "Look!" she shouted to her friends. "That's a spaceship up there and it's going to land here."

Frightened by the strange silver-colored spaceship, most of the young people got in their cars and drove away quickly. Peter was fond of Mary and always stayed close to her. They, more curious than frightened, watched the spaceship land and saw a door open. When nobody came out, they went to the spaceship and entered inside. Peter followed Mary into the spaceship and did not hear the door closed behind him. The temperature fell rapidly and the two young people lost consciousness².

When they woke up, they were surprised to see that they were back by the river again. The spaceship had gone. Their car was nearby.

"What happened?" asked Mary.

Peter scratched (抓) his head, saying slowly, "Don't ask me. Perhaps we had a dream. Did you...Did you see a spaceship?"

"Yes," said Mary. "And we both went into it. Then..." she looked at her wrist. "That's funny. My watch has stopped. Oh, well, come on. It's time to go home."

Driving about fifty meters, they found their way blocked by a thick wall made of something like glass. They got out of the car and tried to find their way round the wall but discovered that they were inside a circular³ wall. It was like a mirror and prevented them from seeing through it.

On the other side of the wall, strange creatures walked past slowly. A few stopped to stare through the wall and read a new notice which, translated into English, said: "New arrivals at the zoo: a pair of Earthlings in their natural surroundings⁴ with their mobile⁵ house."

Choose the correct answer.

1. When the spaceship arrived, why didn't Peter drive away?

A. He did not like leaving Mary.

B. He knew that the spaceship was harmless⁶.

C. He was too frightened to drive.

D. There was a wall blocking the road.

2. Why did Peter enter the spaceship?

A. He saw the food and was hungry.

B. Mary told him to enter it.

C. He just followed Mary.

D. He wanted to study it.

3. Peter scratched his head so we know that _____.

A. he had lost consciousness

B. he was puzzled and did not know what to say to Mary

C. he had lost his memory

D. he was still half asleep

4. What do the words "strange creatures" mean to tell us?

A. They were wild animals in a zoo.

B. They were robbers⁷.

C. They had landed on Earth in a spaceship and lived there.

D. The young couple were on another planet⁸.

5. Which word in the notice tells us that Mary and Peter were not on earth?

A. natural B. surroundings

C. Earthlings D. house

Keys: ACBDC