Two teenagers had to be rescued by firefighters on Saturday after the ice they'd foolishly stepped onto broke away from the shore and started floating out into Lake Michigan. The males, ages 17 and 18, were roughly 40 yards into the lake when the Racine Fire Department arrived to rescue them just after 12:40 p.m.. Three had to swim to rescue the pair.  The firefighters, with help from Kenosha's Coast Guard, pushed the piece of ice back to shore. They then put a ladder down for the two to climb back to safety. Neither teenager was injured.

The incident took place at the beach behind Racine Zoo. Visitors to the lake say it is very difficult to tell where the beach ends and the ice begins.

For the winter, bitter weather has threatened to turn the surface of the Great Lakes into a vast, frozen plain. During February there were days when as much as 85 percent of the lakes' surface area was covered with ice. Records show the lakes' most widespread freeze was 94.7 percent in 1979. The ice cover topped out at 92.2 percent March 2014.

Significant portions of the lakes typically froze over decades ago, Leshkevich said, but the frequency of severe winters has declined since the late 1990s. The ice blanket reaches across more than 90 percent of Lakes Superior, Huron and Erie, while Lakes Michigan and Ontario are more than halfway covered.

It has produced some spectacular visual images, from ice caves along the Lake Michigan shoreline to a glacial buildup making it appear that Niagara Falls had frozen in place. But it's a headache for the Coast Guard, who opened channels for vessels carrying cargo such as heating oil and road salt. 

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1.Where were the two teenagers endangered?

A Near Racine Zoo.

B In Lakes Superior.

C Behind Niagara Falls.

D In Lake Erie.

解析：选A。A。细节理解题。根据第2段第1句The incident took place at the beach behind Racine Zoo.可知。

2.What did the firefighters do first when rescuing the boys?

A They foolishly stepped onto the ice.

B They pushed the ice back to shore.

C They had no choice but to swim to them.

D They put a ladder down for the two.

解析：选C。C。细节理解题。根据文章第1段第3句的Three had to swim to rescue the pair可以得知那些消防战士最先做的是游到那两个孩子那里。

3.When the visitors said “where the beach ends and the ice begins”, they meant _____.

A the weather was very cold

B the lakes were very dangerous

C they couldn’t find their way

D there was large amounts of ice

解析：选D。D。推理判断题。根据第3段第1句的For the winter, bitter weather has threatened to turn the surface of the Great Lakes into a vast, frozen plain可知寒冷的天气把湖区变成无穷尽的冰，因此游客说的话的意思是冰特别多。

4. When were the Lakes covered most?

A In 1979.

B In 1992.

C In 1997.

D In 2014.

解析：选A。A。根据第3段第3句的Records show the lakes' most widespread freeze was 94.7 percent in 1979可知在1979年五大湖区的冰的覆盖率为94.7%，是历史上最高的。

5.What is the headache for the Coast Guard?

A They had a hard transportation.

B They didn’t know how to heat.

C They needed more road salt.

D They produced no visual images.

解析：选A。A。推理判断题。根据第5段最后1句的who opened channels for vessels carrying cargo such as heating oil and road salt可以得知他们面临着交通困难的问题。