A powerful 7.8 earthquake struck large areas of southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday. At least 2,300 people were killed.     1     number of dead and injured will likely increase as rescue workers continue to search through the remains of     2     (destroy) buildings.

The earthquake was centered 23 kilometers east of Nurdagi in the Turkish province of Gaziantep. It struck at 4:17 in the morning local time. Many aftershocks     3     (hit) the area since the first quake.

On the Syrian side, the affected area includes rebel-controlled territory,     4     buildings have already been weakened from fighting in the country’s civil war.     5     (patient) including newborn babies were taken out of medical centers.

In Turkey, people tried to escape from affected areas by car, slowing efforts of emergency teams trying to enter the areas.     6     (religion) buildings in the affected areas were opened to provide shelter for people     7     (able) to return to damaged homes in the cold winter weather.

Monday’s powerful earthquake was felt as far away     8     Cairo, Egypt. People living in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut,     9     (awaken) by the quake. And in Syria’s capital Damascus, locals rushed into the street     10     (fear) the collapse of buildings.

Lightning caused a forest fire in mountainous western China last month that killed 27 firefighters and four local helpers in one of the country’s     1     (deadly) days for first responders, investigators said.

According to     2     eyewitness in Sichuan province’s Muli county, investigators found an 18-meter pine tree split by lightning and they identified it as the fire’s     3     (origin) point. They said that after burning the tree, the fire spread to the thick layer of decomposed plant material on the ground known as humus (腐殖土)     4     (lie) in a remote area at an altitude of around 3, 800 meters.

The 31 died after wind, dry air and flammable materials created an explosive effect. A     5     (survive) firefighter said the fire developed so     6     (quick) that trees on the ridge were burnt out within seconds, with flames rocketing up as if “someone triggered a huge flamethrower. ” 

Most of the dead     7     (be) in their 20s, although at least two were teenagers. One had recently married.

China has been battling forest fires in recent weeks in     8     (variety) parts of the country, including on the suburbs of Beijing. Dry weather and high winds across many northern areas are feeding the flames.

The death toll in last month’s disaster     9     (appear) to be the worst among Chinese firefighters since 2015, when an explosion at a chemical warehouse in the port of Tianjin killed 173 people, most of     10     were firefighters and other first responders.

Twenty one ultra-marathon runners have died since extreme weather hit a 100-kilometer (62-mile) mountain race in northwest China.

The high-altitude Huanghe Shilin Mountain Marathon     1     (begin)on Saturday morning in sunny conditions. But by 1 p.m. local time weather conditions had turned, with freezing rain and hail stones     2     (beat) runners in Gansu County.

Liang Jing, one of China’s well known ultra-marathon runners was among those who died, as

As temperatures dropped in the Yellow River Stone Forest, some started to report suffering from hypothermia, while     5     went missing. The marathon     6     (organize) canceled the race and immediately they launched a search party of 1,200 people to scour the complicated terrain.

One race participant told the local publication Red Star News: “It was     7     (awful) freezing.” He said he decided to abandon the race. “I managed to enter a wooden cabin at the direction of a rescuer,     8     there were already about 10 more runners and within half an hour about 50 runners came and took shelter     9     extreme weather in the cabin.” 

By Sunday morning, 151 of the 172 runners had been confirmed safe, with eight in hospital. Another 21 were found     10     (die), according People’s Daily.

Stewart stepped outside a store and spotted a homeless man sitting against the building with a small dog     1     (seat) in his lap. Stewart, a vet, noticed its scratched-off fur — signs of an allergic reaction to fleas (跳蚤). He approached the man and offered to bring flea medication for the dog, a gift the man     2     (ready) accepted.

When returning one and a half     3     (week) later, Stewart happily found that the dog's hair was coming back, and the rash (疹子) was gone.

Stewart has his own practice in town, yet he still finds time for street pets. He     4     (help) about 400 animals since 2011. There's     5     desperate need for his help. About 25% of Modesto's homeless population own a pet,     6     there are few health-care options available. To fill that blank, Stewart can often     7     (find) wandering anywhere the homeless might be. He carries his medical bag,     8     contains treatments for the cases he encounters.

There are some people     9     (question) whether the homeless should have pets. However, Stewart thinks the homeless, more than anybody, need a pet. Because, the owner is the pet's home. There's one more pressing reason for the homeless     10     (have) their pets: their animals are their reason for getting up in the morning.

A supermarket employee in Illinois is being called a hero after     1    (run) across the store’s parking lot to save a baby     2     was in a runaway shopping cart(购物车).

Ben Mazur, who was a worker at a Schnucks supermarket in Alton, was pushing shopping carts    3     he heard a car horn honking(喇叭鸣响) repeatedly. “It turns out, the owner of the car was trying to get someone’s attention because there was a runaway cart     4    (roll) down the store’s parking lot,” according to the supermarket manager.

Mazur quickly noticed it wasn’t just a cart—there was also a baby placed in the child seat.

“The mom was putting her other kids in the car and didn’t realize     5     was happening,” Mazur explained. “I stopped what I was doing,     6    (run) across the lot and pulled the cart back before it rolled into a stop sign.”

Now, both the manager     7     customers speak highly of Mazur.

“We have a slanting(倾斜的) parking lot so carts can get rolling fast,” said Alton Co-Manager Tom Moore. “Quick thinking on Ben’s part saved the baby. Congrats, Ben, you’re     8     brave man!”

“Not all     9    (hero) wear capes(披肩),”a customer added.

“You ran     10    (fast) than a speeding baby!” another joked. “Good job, Ben.”