Five years after the Australian family of the Elliotts found Englishman Paul Gilmore’s 50-year-old message in a bottle, they finally met.

In 1969, Mr Gilmore — the same age then as 13-year-old Jyah Elliott — was on a ship from England travelling toward Melbourne, Australia and threw a message in a bottle overboard. It was found 50 years later by then nine-year-old Jyah, who was digging in sand dunes (沙丘) at Talia Beach on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula in 2019.

“We went down to Talia to go fishing and Jyah was walking around in the sand dunes and found a bottle,” Jyah’s dad Paul Elliott said. “We couldn’t get it out … so Jyah broke the bottle.” In the bottle was Mr Gilmore’s Melbourne address and a request for whoever found it to get in contact (联系). “I just saw a date there, 1969, and thought, ‘Wow, this is pretty old’,” Mr Elliott said. The Elliott family at first sent a reply to the stated address but got no answer.

Four years after landing in Melbourne and having “a wonderful time in Australia” a 17-year-old Mr Gilmore had to return to England to care for his grandfather and grandmother, who had fallen ill. When news the bottle had been found made its way back to Mr Gilmore, who is now living in Yorkshire in England, it was “quite surreal, like a dream”, he said. “It all comes from the bottle that I dropped in the Indian Ocean somewhere towards Melbourne when I was 13 years old, so that’s quite a while ago,” the 67-year-old said. “I was always hopeful someone would find it, but I had no idea.”

1.When was Paul Gilmore born?

A In 1950.

B In 1956.

C In 1969.

D In 1982.

解析：选B。B 数字计算题。根据第二段的“In 1969, Mr Gilmore — the same age then as 13-year-old Jyah Elliott”1969年，吉尔摩和13岁的杰亚·埃利奥特同岁，即1969年吉尔摩13岁，由此可知他出生于1956年。故选B。

2.Who found the bottle from the sea?

A Jyah Elliott.

B Paul Elliott.

C Jyah’s mother.

D Paul Gilmore.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据第二段中的“It was found 50 years later by then nine-year-old Jyah”可知，是杰亚·埃利奥特发现了这个瓶子。故选A。

3.What does the underlined word “it” refer to?

A The dune.

B The bottle.

C The message.

D The fish.

解析：选C。C 词意指代题。根据第二段中的“Australia and threw a message in a bottle overboard”可知，瓶子里有一张纸条。结合划线词所在句的后面内容“so Jyah broke the bottle”杰亚把瓶子打碎（然后拿出了纸条）。由此可知it指代的是前文提到的纸条。故选C。

4.Why did Paul Gilmore return to England in 1973?

A To reply to a message.

B To have a great time.

C To look after his grandparents.

D To get treatment for his illness.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第四段第一句的“a 17-year-old Mr Gilmore had to return to England to care for his grandfather and grandmother, who had fallen ill”可知，当时17岁的保罗·吉尔摩不得不返回英格兰照顾生病的祖父母。故选C。

5.How did Paul Gilmore feel when he got the news the bottle had been found?

A Hopeful.

B Embarrassed.

C Lucky.

D Surprised.

解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据第四段中“it was ‘quite surreal, like a dream’, he said.”可知，当保罗·吉尔摩得知他的瓶子被找到的消息时，他说“这太不真实了，像做梦一样”，由此推断他当时感到很吃惊。故选D。