Reading Comprehension

Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions below.

In some jobs, danger can appear at any moment. In the blink of an eye, the routine can become perilous. This month, the National Geographic Channel shows us what happens when a normal situation becomes Situation Critical.

The police try to keep citizens safe, but what happens when the police are in danger? On February 28, 1997, two men with armour and powerful rifles robbed a bank in Hollywood, California. The police’s weapons were useless against the criminals’’, but they knew they had to end the Hollywood Shootout. In Colombia, police tried to arrest Pablo Escobar, the world’s most notorious drug dealer. When he fought back with assassinations that killed hundreds, government officials decided their only option was Killing Pablo Escobar.

For soldiers and pilots, too, the danger is a way of life. This became a painful truth for American pilot Scott O’Grady in June 1995 when his jet was shot down over Bosnia. O’Grady could eject, but he had to avoid the enemy for days as a Downed Pilot. British SAS troops also found themselves in harm’s way in Sierra Leone in 2000. There, they planned to recover 11 British soldiers held hostage in a daring SAS Jungle Rescue.

Of course, combat isn’t the only way to experience danger. The astronauts of Apollo 13 learned this when an explosion struck their spacecraft. Low on resources, the astronauts and engineers on the ground had to act quickly to save Apollo 13. Back on Earth, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race turned deadly in 1998, with dozens of boats forced to quit and six men lost at sea. That year, the challenging competition turned into Hell or High Water.

There are situations where our decisions can make the difference between life and death, the outcome is never certain, and we are left with our hearts pounding. National Geographic Channel brings us face to face with these dangerous conditions on Situation Critical.