The Cambodian government says more than 378 people died and hundreds more were injured in a stampede (踩踏) during the celebrations of the annual Water Festival late Monday in Phnom Penh.
Less than 24 hours after the tragedy(悲剧), Cambodia's most serious loss of life in decades(十年), the government founded an organization to investigate(调查) how so many died on what was meant to be one of the nation's most joyous occasions.
Most of the victims(牺牲品) were young people in their teens and twenties. They were some of the estimated(估计) two million who had flooded to Phnom Penh for the Water Festival, which marks the end of the rainy season.
Most suffocated on the bridge, which thousands of people were using to leave Diamond Island, an entertainment(娱乐) area in the middle of the river. Others drowned(溺水) after jumping from the bridge into the water.
Buot Panha, 19, said shortly after 9:30 on Monday evening he ended up trapped(围困) with his friends in the middle of the bridge, fighting to breathe while terrified people struggled all around him.
Being tall saved his life, since he could stretch(伸出) his neck to take in oxygen(氧气). Shorter people were unable to do that, he says, which may be why two-thirds of the victims were women.
He tried to help a woman who was trapped with two children near him. She was screaming for people to help. Being tall, Buot Panha grabbed(抓住) one child and pushed him above the crowd to help him breathe.
But then some of the young men were told to jump off the bridge into the river to make room. So he handed back the child, squirmed his way to the edge, and jumped.
Some like Buot Panha were fortunate, jumping into the river below and swimming for the shore. But many simply could not move, and died where they lay.
Buot Panha says his first Water Festival will be his last. He vows(发誓) never to come back.
小题1:The passage is mainly about ________.
A．Water Festival celebrations
B．a stampede in Cambodia
C．a teenager, Buot Panha
D．a woman and her children小题2:What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?
A．It is the biggest tragedy in decades in Cambodia.
B．It is the most serious loss of life in decades in Cambodia.
C．The government ordered an investigation.
D．Water Festival is Cambodia’s most joyous occasion.小题3:The underlined word “suffocated” (in Paragraph 4) probably means ________.
A．breathed in
B．felt uncomfortable
C．died from too little oxygen
D．left in a hurry小题4:Most of the deaths were caused as a result of _________.
A．being unable to breathe
B．being drowned
C．violence
D．the rainy season小题5:Which of the following is TRUE about Buot Panha according to the passage?
A．His being tall saved him in the river.
B．He struggled through the crowd to save one child.
C．It was his first time to attend the Water Festival alone.
D．He will never come back to Phnom Penh for the Water Festival.
