一：words and expressions

1.go wrong / get out of control

2.it is as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions

5处连读。a chain of reactions 一串连锁反应

3.it marks the prelude to an unforeseen series of catastrophes.

prelude：if an event is a prelude to a more important event, it happens just before it and makes people expect it

Catastrophe/disaster:a terrible event in which there is a lot of destruction, suffering, or death

4.attend to somebody /something

to deal with business or personal matters

5.reduce somebody to tears / silence

to make someone cry, be silent etc

6.on a big scale

on a large /small /grand etc scale

7.get into a panic

8.make the driver brake hard

9.be thrown forward

10.draw up

if a vehicle draws up, it arrives somewhere and stops

11.pull up

to stop the vehicle that you are driving

12.all of a sudden =suddenly

13.pile up

To  increase in quantity or amount, in a way that is difficult to manage

14.get the traffic on the move

15.benifit from all this confusion