Volunteers have descended on western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee to help residents recover from Hurricane Helene. The retired couple， from McKinney， Texas， says they’ve volunteered at a dozen disaster sites this year.

Recently their truck and 14 foot utility trailer， filled with tools， brooms and a spray washer， was parked outside a Jonesborough， Tenn home that was deluged by the Nolichucky River. Volunteers noisily removed the floor， which was damaged by the silty river water. The volunteers are also removing hardwood floors that Neal estimates were first installed 50 years ago. As climate change makes flooding more frequent and intense， water is reaching places that never used to flood. “When we finish with the house， we’ll try to spray wash it—get it completely cleaned out. And then we have a sanitizer that kills any mold that may have accumulated or starts to grow，” said Neal.

The volunteers wear bright yellow shirts that read “Texans On Mission”—the organization whose help comes without strings. “I’m actually the team chaplain， so I spend a lot of time with the homeowner—hugging on them， loving on them， listening to them.” Ann Neal said it’s important to let them tell their stories as part of the healing process.

The Neals say the yellow shirts brought them to the organization. While visiting their son， they saw a group wearing them and helping others. “They were there because of a disaster that had taken place—a flood. And we just kind of looked at each other and said， ‘When we retire， this is what we’re doing，’” said Ann Neal， who retired at the end of 2016. They’ve been going to disasters ever since.

“How many have we been to？ Probably a dozen this year，” she said. Curt Neal estimates they’ve volunteered at 60 disaster sites over the years.

“We’ve been to Poland， Israel， and Cuba. We were in Lahaina， Hawaii， last year to help with the fires there.”

（材料選自NPR網站，有刪改）

1. What does the underlined words “deluged” mean in paragraph 2？

A. Flooded. B. Admired.

C. Beautified. D. Strengthened.

2. What is paragraph 2 of the text mainly about？

A. The effects of a disaster.

B. The reasons of a disaster.

C. The process of helping a disaster-hit area.

D. The importance of helping a disaster-hit area.

3. Why did Neal listen to people hit by disasters？

A. It helped them get cured.

B. It made them forget the disaster.

C. It helped them hug and love their family.

D. It made them know how to build their home.

4. What can be inferred from the passage？

A. The couple retired earlier to help people.

B. The couple helped people all over the world.

C. The couple liked travelling around the world together.

D. The couple was surprised at disasters happening globally.

1. A。解析：詞義猜測題。材料第二段的第一句和第二句提到，“他們的卡車和14米長的多功能拖車停在田納西州瓊斯伯勒市的一處房屋外，里面裝滿了工具、掃帚和噴淋式清洗器。那處房屋被諾利恰克河淹沒”。因此，deluged的意思為“淹沒”，與A選項flooded的意思相似，故選A。

2. C。解析：主旨大意題。材料第二段主要講述志愿者如何清理被洪水浸泡過的災區(qū)房子，也就是幫助災民重建家園的過程。C選項與材料內容相符，故選C。

3. A。解析：細節(jié)理解題。材料第三段的最后一句提到“安·尼爾說，讓他們講述自己的故事，作為治療過程的一部分是很重要的”。由此可知，安·尼爾的傾聽能讓受傷的受災人快一點恢復，故選A。

4. B。解析：推理判斷題。材料最后一段提到“我們去過波蘭、以色列和古巴。去年我們曾在夏威夷的拉哈伊納幫助滅火”。由此可知，他們去世界各地幫助受災的人，故選B。