D(2024·扬州市广陵区一模)
Ned wanted to escape from the Nautilus while we were in the Mediterranean. However, he had no chance. The submarine raced into the Atlantic in two days mostly staying deep under the water. As it surfaced, the submarine turned north.
Ned came to my room. “Tonight!” he said. “Tonight?” I wasn't ready for this. “Tonight,” he 1. r
epeated
, “we are a few miles off the Spanish coast. It will be dark, and the wind is blowing in the right direction. You agreed, Dr Aronnax, to escape with me. Remember your 2. p
romise
!” I said nothing. “At nine, I will go to the staircase with Conseil. You will wait in the 3. l
ibrary
for our signal. Everything is ready.”
“The sea is quite rough,” I said.
“Yes, but i
f we don't go tonight, we will soon be too 4.
far
from land!”
I knew he was right. I was also frightened. What would Captain Nemo do if he discovered our plan or if we 5.
failed
? I had not seen him for several days. Now I didn't want to see him. He might notice that I was nervous. I stayed in my room.
As I waited for Ned's signal, the Nautilus's engines 6. s
topped
. I felt a bump as the submarine came to rest on the ocean floor.
The library door opened and Captain Nemo entered. He took me to the window. I found the crew of the Nautilus were gathering some gold from the sand and 7.
bringing
it to the submarine. Now I knew how the Captain became so rich. “But of what use is all this gold to you?” I asked. “It's of no use to 8. m
e
!” he replied. “But it can help people who are suffering.”
Ned came to my room the next morning. “We were unlucky. The Nautilus stopped just 9. a
s
we were about to escape.”
I told him what I had learnt about Nemo and the gold. I hoped that Ned would change his mind but he didn't. The Nautilus was going away from the land. Escape was 10. i
mpossible
now. Ned was disappointed, but I was not.
—Adapted from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
