When 16-year-old Grayden Brunet joined the Sackets Harbor, New York, volunteer fire department in 2017, he was the youngest. He was so excited to be following in his dad’s footsteps that he persuaded (说服) two classmates, Niklas Braz ie and Dalton Hardison, to sign up too. A few years later, the older firefighters quit en masse (集体退出) over COVID-19 concerns,
Suddenly, the three teens not only were helping the Sackets Harbor volunteer fire department, they were the Sackets Harbor volunteer fire department. They were the ones responding to heart attacks, car accidents, and suicides. They were the ones speeding COVID-19 patients to hospitals. “We went from not even having our licenses to saving people’s lives,” Hardison told CBS. As far as the teens were concerned, they couldn’t quit. If they did, Brunet told North County Public Radio, “The community would lose the ambulance (救护车).”
The three of them worked hard alone for a year until help arrived in the form of five more teens, all motivated to serve their neighbours in the town of 1,300. “When they call 911, they’re expecting someone to help them,” says Sophia DeVito, who was 16 when she joined. “The job is hard and challenging.” One night last fall, the crew responded to two ambulance calls and a fire. They got home at 5:30 a. m., just two hours before school started. “It’s definitely hard coming back from the calls and having to take a maths test,” Grayden’s younger brother Gannon told WWNY. But they don’t mind the grind (苦差事). And how are the looks on the faces of 911 callers when they meet their rescuers? Priceless, says Cooper Anton son. “A lot of people ask, ‘Wait, how old are you?’”
【小题1】Where did Grayden’s father work?
| A．At school. | B．In a hospital. | C．At a fire department. | D．In a store. |
【小题2】How many teenage volunteers were serving the community at last?
| A．Only one. | B．Three. | C．Five. | D．Eight. |
【小题3】What can be learned from the text?
| A．All the teenage volunteers have got their licenses. |
| B．Sophia DeVito considers the job heavy and difficult. |
| C．The volunteers’ duty is simply to help put out the fire. |
| D．The teenage volunteers once left the fire department. |
【小题4】What’s the teenagers’ attitude towards their work as volunteers?
| A．Meaningless. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Positive. |
