希腊沉船事故已致79人死亡，全国哀悼3天

Near the coast of southern Greece, a boat turned over. At least 79 people have died. More than 100 have been rescued. People who got to live said that hundreds more people were on board. The government says this is one of Greece’s biggest tragedies. It has announced three days of mourning (哀悼).

The boat went down about 80 km south-west of Pylos after the coast guard said it had refused help. The coast guard said the boat had been seen in international waters late on Tuesday. They tried to get in touch with the boat several times and offered help. But every time they were told: “We want nothing more than to go to Italy.”

A few hours later, someone on the boat told the coast guard that there were some problems with the boat. The team took action right away. But the strong wind made things difficult. After a very short time, the boat turned over. It only took ten to fifteen minutes to go down completely.

Alarm Phone, an emergency helpline for people in trouble at sea, said the coast guard “knew the ship being in trouble for hours before any help was sent”, adding that they “had been told by different people” 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. The boat met a Maltese ship on Tuesday afternoon that carried food and water. The coast guard said that three people had been taken to the police station in Kalamata. They were questioned for trading in human beings. 

1.What can we know about the accident?

A The boat set off from Greece.

B Less than 79 people have died.

C The accident lasted for three days.

D More than hundreds were on board.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第一段第四句“People who got to live said that hundreds more people were on board.”可知船上有数百人。故选D。

2.What can we know from what the coast guard said?

A The boat had refused help.

B The boat went down on Tuesday.

C The boat went the wrong way at sea.

D The coast guard didn’t want to help the boat.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。根据第二段第一句的“it had refused help”和最后一句的“We want nothing more than to go to Italy.”可知，海岸警卫队多次提出帮忙，但每次这一艘船都表示不需要帮助，只想去目的地意大利。故选A。

3.What made the life-saving action difficult?

A The weak boat.

B The bad weather.

C The careless team.

D The heavy people.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据第三段第三句“But the strong wind made things difficult.”可知，海岸警卫队立马采取行动，但是强风让救援变得困难。故选B。

4.What did Alarm Phone think of the coast guard?

A They tried their best.

B They didn’t pay attention.

C They bravely faced the difficulty.

D They only helped for a short time.

解析：选B。B推理判断题。根据第四段Alarm Phone所说的话可知，他们认为海岸警卫队在提供帮助之前几个小时就知道这一艘船出了问题，且已经从不同的人那里得知这一艘船出了问题。暗示他们知道这件事情如此之早，却行动得很晚。由此可推断，他们觉得海岸警卫队对救援并不上心。故选B。

5.What can we know about the people on board?

A There were more women than men.

B Most people were still young.

C They carried food and water.

D They were all from Italy.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据最后一段的“most of those on board believed to be men in their 20s.”可知，船上的大多数人都很年轻。故选B。