1 . New York Times best-selling author Susan Casey travelled globally, joining scientists and explorers on dives to the deepest places on the planet. She takes us on an interesting journey through the history of deep-sea exploration, from the legends of the ancient world to storied shipwrecks we can now reach on the bottom. Throughout this journey, she learned how important the deep is to the future of the planet, and how necessary it is that we understand and protect it. The Underworld is Susan Casey’s most beautiful and thrilling book, a wonderful show of the natural world.

Event location: The lecture and book signing (签名) will be held at the Linda Hall Library,5109 Cherry Street, Kansas City, Missouri.

Event time: Thursday, January 14th,7:00 pm-8:00 pm

Book signing: Hard copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event courtesy of Rainy Day Books. A book signing will immediately follow the lecture.

Admission package (admits one)

Click to order tickets through the Kauffman Center. Admission is $40.00 plus Kauffman ticket fee and includes one hardcover of the book and one admission ticket. Reserved seating.

Please note: Attendees (参与者) will receive their books as they arrive at this event. Your electronic ticket will be needed for event entry and to receive your hardcover of the book as you arrive.

Disclaimer (免责声明): All Rainy Day Books Author Event sales are final and non-refundable.

3 . The most powerful hurricane in the year was crashing into coastlines in Virginia. Lucky Dog Animal Rescue planned to take the 21 dogs, affected by the disaster, to a ________ in South Carolina, which became crowded as people near the coast were evacuating.

Mirah Horowitz is the head of Lucky Dog in Arlington, Virginia. “It’s a double ________,” she said. Her group found it hard to help the dogs as well as drive them from Virginia to South Carolina ________ a seven-hour trip. Then they have to put dogs in wooden boxes and bring them to the Washington, D.C., area. Finally, they had to make sure there were enough families to ________ the dogs.

The group tried to ________ more dogs from South Carolina over the weekend. They were going to hold an adoption (领养) event on September 8 at the shelter in the Washington, D.C., area. Horowitz and her colleagues decided to take some dogs and emailed ________ that night looking for families to adopt the dogs. “We had to find people to take those animals between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.” Horowitz said. ________, they were getting many replies until 2 a.m. from people who were willing to help, after hours of ________ waiting.

Lucky Dog was also talking to an animal shelter on the island of Grand Bahama in the Bahamas. That was where the hurricane had caused the most ________ so far. The workers there did not know the dogs’ situations. ________, they heard reports of heavy flooding that had ________ the shelter. Horowitz’s group also has a helicopter which is ready to offer flights to ________ some emergency supplies.

Horowitz said, “I really ________ the help from those families. It feels nice to save animals from areas ________ by severe weather and it is ________ to make all the efforts.”

4 . In September, when UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay visited Zhoukoudian in suburban Beijing, which is famous for the discovery of Peking Man living between 700,000 to 200,000 years ago, she was full of praise for the structure that successfully protected Yuanrendong Cave from an unusual rainstorm in July.

The cave in the central area of the site has so far revealed the remains of 40 individuals. The structure protects the site from the weather, including heavy wind, snow and hail, and its design fits in with the surrounding environment, Qin Changwei, secretary-general of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, said at the 2nd World Cultural and Natural Heritage Forum in Beijing on Nov. 17 and 18. “It provides a reference for the protection of precious cultural relics, and suggests measures for helping heritage sites respond to the influence of climate change.”

Organized by the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the Auspices of UNESCO(Beijing), and the China Foundation for Cultural Heritage Conservation among others, the forum brought together some 50 professionals to discuss the protection and sustainable (可持续发展的) development of heritage sites. Scholars stressed the influence of climate change on heritage sites, and offered suggestions for how to solve the problem.

“Entering the 21st century, climate change has been the subject of in-depth discussion by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Questions like how to balance between humans and nature, how to respond to natural disasters caused by climate change, and what new challenges this brings to World Heritage Sites, are worth consideration,” says Qin. “Solving the problem requires us to unify, making full use of advanced technology, such as space and digital technologies, and jointly developing risk prevention and response plans,” he adds.

Exciting action, excellent organization and touching stories of athletes made the just finished 4th Asian Para Games in Hangzhou a huge success,     1     will benefit the host city and growth of Chinese para sports.

The whole world was     2     (amaze) by the high standards of the event as well as the improvement in the living conditions of people with     3     (disable) with the help of para sports in China. They     4     (live) better lives now thanks to para sports.

The Hangzhou Asian Para Games attracted over 3, 000 athletes from 44 countries, making it the     5     (large) one in the history of the Asian Para Games.

Organizing such     6     big event that went off smoothly     7     losing quality was not easy at all. The organizers will ensure the future use of all the facilities,     8     will keep building more so that more disabled people can enjoy sports.

At the Games, Team China won 521 medals,     9     (include) 214 gold medals. It’s said that it is the most successful Asian Para Games that     10     (hold) so far.

8 . It was a regular school day, and the air was filled with the usual sounds of chatter and laughter as students prepared for their lessons. Little did I know that this day would soon take a ________ turn, making it an unforgettable day.

As the bell rang, signaling the beginning of our English class, we entered the classroom, completely ________ of the coming danger. The teacher began the lesson, and we were really ________ our literature lesson when, out of nowhere, a loud fire alarm ________ everything.

Panic spread as we understood how ________ it was. Smoke filled the hallway, and a sharp burning smell hung in the air. The neat classroom turned into a mess as everyone ________ to the door, trying to get away from the coming danger.

In all the chaos, I noticed my ________ Sarah looking obviously scared by her desk. I quickly ________ she needed help. Without hesitation, I rushed over, took her shaky hand, and told everyone to stay calm. We went through the thickening smoke together, and each ________ felt like a really long time.

As we reached the door, it felt hotter, and we knew we had to hurry. With hearts ________, we hurried into the playground where teachers and students were making sure everyone stayed sate.

Outside, we took a moment to catch our breath, ________ by the loud sounds of approaching fire trucks. Seeing parts of the building on fire, a sense of ________ washed over us, knowing that we had made it out unharmed.

After everything happened, I couldn’t help but reflect on the events of that day. ________ it taught me it’s important to stay calm when things get ________ and how helping others during hard times matters. It was a day when ordinary students became unlikely heroes, bound together by the shared ________ to overcome the unexpected challenges.