The man must build the fire again. This time, he must not fail.
He reached again into his pocket for the matches. But his fingers were frozen because of the extreme cold. He could not hold them. All the matches fell onto the snow. He tried to pick one up, but failed.
He pulled on his glove and beat his hand against his leg. Then he took the gloves off both hands and picked up all the matches. He gathered them together. Holding them with both hands, he scratched the matches along his leg. They immediately caught fire.
He held the blazing matches to a piece of wood. After a while, he realized that he could smell his hands burning. Then he began to feel the pain. He opened his hands, and the blazing matches fell on to the snow. The flame went out in a puff of gray smoke.
The man looked up. The dog was still watching him. An idea struck the man. He would kill the dog and bury his hands inside its warm body. When the feeling came back to his fingers, he could build another fire. He called to the dog. The dog, sensing danger in the man's voice, backed away. The man called again. This time the dog came closer. The man reached for his knife. But he had forgotten that he could not bend his fingers. He could not kill the dog, for he could not hold his knife.
The fear of death came over the man. He jumped up and began to run. The running began to make him feel better. Maybe running would make his feet warm. If he ran far enough, he would reach his friends at Henderson Creek. They would attend to him.
It felt somewhat strange to run and not feel his feet when they hit the ground. He fell several times. He decided to rest a while. As he lay in the snow, he noticed that he was not shaking. He could not feel his nose or fingers or feet. Yet, he was feeling quite warm and comfortable. He realized he was going to die.
Well, he decided, he might as well take it like a man. There were worse ways to die.
The man closed his eyes and floated into the most comfortable sleep he had ever known.
【小题1】What was the man trying to do?| A．Build a fire. | B．Find the matches. | C．Kill the dog. | D．Locate his friends. |
| A．exploding | B．bursting | C．burning | D．shaking |
| A．Whether he could collect enough firewood. |
| B．How he could get the matches out of his pocket. |
| C．How he could remove the gloves off both hands. |
| D．Whether he could get feelings back to his hands. |
| A．He would survive with the help of the fire he made. |
| B．He would be trapped in the snow and die of cold. |
| C．He would be helped out of the situation by his devoted dog. |
| D．He would be rescued by his friends who were searching for him. |
