A British girl on holiday in Florida has been killed by a car on one of the most famous beaches in the world. Ellie Bland, aged four and from Nottingham, was walking down to the water’s edge in Daytona Beach, a Florida resort known for the Daytona 500 motor race. The town is one of the few in America that allows cars to drive on the beach.
John, her great-uncle, said he had been holding Ellie’s hand as they waited to cross the car lane on the beach on Saturday but she took a step ahead of him. A passing Lincoln Town Car driven by Barbara Worley, 66, clipped the girl and knocked her over. As bystanders shouted, the driver apparently hit the accelerator(加速器) instead of the brake and ran the child over.
“The child was walking hand-in-hand in front of her uncle when the child stepped out in front of the car and was struck,” a Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman said. “Bystanders yelled for the driver to stop as the child lay in front, but for an unknown reason the driver panicked(恐慌) and ran over the child.”
After the accident, it was said that Ms Worley sat “dazed” in her car as police shrouded the child’s body with beach umbrellas. A reporter from WESH local television asked Ms Worley for comment. “I really don’t want to be interviewed,” she replied. Off camera, however, she said she was so sorry for what happened.
Ellie was on her sixth trip to Florida, and was traveling with her five-year-old sister, her great-uncle and aunt and family friends. Her parents had stayed in Britain and were told of her death by telephone. It is understood that they were flying to Florida last night. Ellie’s great-aunt said the girl had suffered from various medical problems, including a heart murmur and a digestive tract disorder. “She was a quiet little girl,” she told the Daytona Beach News Journal. “She’d play in activities at nursery, but she’d rather go off and read a book. It’s unreal,” she added. “It just took her. I can’t believe it.”
A two-year-old boy was killed on a nearby beach 22 years ago when he ran out from between parked cars and was hit by a van. The last car-related death on the area’s beaches happened in 1996 when a 57-year-old woman was hit by a drunk driver traveling at 40mph.
46．How many people killed on the area’s beaches were mentioned in this report?
A. One. B. Two. C. Three. D. Four.
47. What was the right order when the accident happened to the little girl?
① Some bystanders shouted to get the driver to stop.
② The girl took a step ahead of her uncle.
③ The girl was run over by the car
The girl was struck, lying on the ground.
A. ①②③④ B. ④③②① C. ②③④① D. ②④①③
48. It refers that the reporter’s attitude towards driving on beaches is ____.
A. positive B. negative C. suspicious D. sympathetic
49. The underlined word “dazed” can be probably translated into Chinese as_____.
A. 痛哭流滴 B. 目瞪口呆 C. 后悔不已 D. 哑口无言
50. Which of the following is not exactly known to us after reading the report?
A. The health condition of the girl. B. Whom she was traveling with.
C. When and how her parents got the news of her death.
D. Where Ms Worley was asked for comment by a reporter from local television.