At least 79 people have died and more than 100 have been rescued after their fishing ship tipped over near the coast of southern Greece. But survivors and Greek officials say that hundreds more migrants (移民) were on board. The government says this is one of Greece’s biggest migrant tragedies, and has declared three days of mourning.

The boat went down about 80 km (50 miles) south-west of Pylos. The coastguard said the boat had been spotted in international waters late on Tuesday. No one on board was wearing life jackets. Quoting a timeline provided by the shipping ministry, Greek public broadcaster ERT said authorities had made contact with the boat via satellite phone on several occasions and offered help, but were repeatedly told: “We want nothing more than to go on to Italy.” 

A few hours later, someone on the boat informed the Greek coastguard that the ship’s engine had failed to work correctly. Shortly after, the boat tipped over, taking only ten to fifteen minutes to sink completely. A search and rescue operation was triggered but complicated by strong winds.

Alarm Phone, an emergency helpline for migrants in trouble at sea, said the coastguard was “aware of the ship being in suffering for hours before any help was sent”, adding that authorities “had been informed by different sources” that the boat was in trouble. 

The boat is thought to have been going from Libya to Italy, with most of those on board believed to be men in their 20s. They had been travelling for days, according to local media reports, which added that the boat had been approached by a Maltese cargo ship on Tuesday afternoon that supplied food and water. ERT said that three people suspected of being the traders in human beings had been taken to the central port authority in Kalamata and were being questioned.

1.What can we know from Paragraph Two?

A The coastguard contacted with the boat.

B The boat refused authorities’ help.

C The coastguard didn’t offer help.

D The boat went down on Tuesday.

解析：选B。B推理判断题。根据第二段最后一句的“We want nothing more than to go on to Italy.”可知，船上的人当时拒绝了当局提供的帮助。故选B。

2.What does the underlined word “triggered” probably mean?

A Set off.

B Brought up.

C Got through.

D Given out.

解析：选A。A词义猜测题。根据该段第一句的“someone on the boat informed the Greek coastguard that the ship’s engine had failed to work correctly”和后文的“but complicated by strong winds”可知，有人通知了希腊海岸警卫队，搜救行动随即展开，但是救援因强风变得复杂。故选A。

3.What did Alarm Phone think of the rescue?

A It was remarkable.

B It was complicated.

C It was temporary.

D It was awful.

解析：选D。D推理判断题。根据第四段Alarm Phone所说的话“the coastguard was ‘aware of the ship being in suffering for hours before any help was sent’”“authorities ‘had been informed by different sources’ that the boat was in trouble”可知，Alarm Phone表示海岸警卫队在出发救援前的数小时就已经知道了这艘船遭遇险情，而当局更是“从不同的渠道得到通知”，知道这一艘船遇到了麻烦。从其语气中可以看出，Alarm Phone认为该次救援很糟糕。故选D。

4.What can we know about people on board?

A Most of them were women.

B They set out from Italy.

C They were delivering food.

D They might be illegally traded.

解析：选D。D推理判断题。根据第一段的“migrants”和最后一段的“most of those on board believed to be men in their 20s”“three people suspected of being the traders in human beings had been taken to the central port authority”可知，船上大多数是20多岁的壮年移民，船上还有三个疑似人贩子的人员，由此可推测这些壮年可能是被非法贩卖去作为劳动力的。故选D。