Four Colombian children survived a plane crash only to be lost deep in the Amazon rainforest for well over a month. This is how they survived this horrifying situation.
It’s most people’s nightmare: surviving a plane crash only to be trapped in a jungle with no way of contacting the outside world. But they survived. The children, aged 13, nine and four, as well as an 11-month-old baby, were flying with their mother from their village in the Amazon to visit their father in San José del Guaviare. The single-engine Cessna on which they were flying experienced engine problems and disappeared on May 1, 2023.
Bad weather prevented the army from finding the crash site for two weeks, where they then found the dead bodies of three adults, including the children’s mother. How did these children survive conditions that would be an unimaginable struggle for most adults? They are members of the Huitoto Indigenous group and were raised in the jungle. As such, they have an intimate understanding of the rainforest. They know which fruits are safe to eat and which plants should be avoided.
Working with, rather than against, the Amazon, they survived on fruits and seeds, while feeding the baby water mixed with yucca flour that they found on the plane. While the children got on with the business of surviving, the Colombian army worked with Indigenous volunteers to find them. After 40 days of searching, the children were found and taken to recover at a military hospital in Bogota.
While many around the world have taken this survival story to be a miracle, others point out that it is the result of an ancient and intimate knowledge of the rainforest that has been passed down through Indigenous communities over the generations. Indigenous tribes have a close relationship to the Amazon, marked by a deep respect for the forest that provides them with shelter and nutritious ingredients. It is their close connection to and understanding of the rainforest that undoubtedly helped the children to survive.
1. What made the plane on which they were flying crash?2. Why did it take the army so long to find the children after the accident?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
The children survived the horrifying situation by fighting against the Amazon rainforest.
4. What lesson can you learn from the story? (In about 40 words)
2 . Before you head out to a fun event where there will be many people, you should be aware of the dangers of a crowd crush (拥挤的人群), whose possibility adds up during the festivals or on some celebrating occasions.
Though the risk of crowd crush is rare, it can be deadly when it happens. Crowd crush occurs when many people are packed together and begin to fall over one another. In the past, such instances have caused horrible injury and even death.
Before attending a crowded event, look up a map of the venue.
Helping others is another great way to keep everyone safe. Once one person falls down, more people tend to fall over them.
A common cause of death in a crowd crush isn’t being crushed but rather losing air. It’s best to hold out your arms in front of your chest.
There is usually fun where the crowds are, so enjoy yourself. But meanwhile, it is also important to remember to stay alert and take care of your family members when you sense the smell of danger.
| A．If you do end up in a crush, here’s how you can stay safe. |
| B．This allows space between you and the person in front of you. |
| C．So if your neighbor in the crowd falls to the ground, help them up. |
| D．Seeking for a safer place takes some time and is sometimes challenging. |
| E．To avoid such an outcome, it’s best to escape the crush before it happens. |
| F．The shortage of air means less oxygen, which will lead to serious consequences. |
| G．This will give you an idea of the surroundings—pay special attention to any exits. |
3 . It was rush hour in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. White, 38, was driving home. He noticed a gray Nissan four-door pickup on the opposite side of the two-lane street. It was hard to
As the pickup drew closer, White got a good look at the
White busted a U-turn and was now facing in the same direction as the pickup, but there were four cars
White was now inside the cab of the truck, waist deep, his legs dangling out the window. The man behind the wheel, 64-year-old Todd DeAngelis, was just
White worked quickly. They were coming up to a busy intersection, he recalls, “so I was trying to stop anything before it happened.” He
From outside the truck, White asked DeAngelis if he was OK. “No,” he replied, in a haze. DeAngelis, a diabetic, was
“I'm always trying to help, where I can, when I can, ” White says.
But jumping into a moving vehicle to prevent a crash? White admits this was new
| A．miss | B．recognize | C．seek | D．realize |
| A．direction | B．problem | C．street | D．pickup |
| A．carried out | B．given up | C．kept on | D．taken over |
| A．prohibiting | B．overtaking | C．separating | D．following |
| A．burning | B．cooling | C．warm | D．temperate |
| A．calm | B．anxious | C．desperate | D．conscious |
| A．forced | B．wheeled | C．urged | D．led |
| A．ejected | B．landed | C．released | D．escaped |
| A．regularly | B．specially | C．constantly | D．unexpectedly |
| A．cause | B．challenge | C．approach | D．territory |
Davyon Johnson, an 11-year-old boy, was honored by his community after saving two lives in one day. On Dec. 9, a choking student tripped into the classroom
Driving to Palm Springs two years ago, I met a snowstorm. A car suddenly changed the direction
A group doctors,
7 . I know what courage looks like. I saw it on a flight I took six years ago, and only now can I speak of it without tears filling eyes at the memory.
Our flight left the Orlando Airport one Friday morning. But immediately upon take-off, it was clear that something was wrong. The aircraft was bumping(颠簸) up and down. All the experienced travellers, including me, looked around with knowing smiles. If you fly much, you see these things and learn to act calmly about them. However, we did not remain calm for long.
Minutes after we were in the air, our plane began falling quickly. The pilot soon made a serious announcement. “We are having some difficulties,” he said. “Our indicators show that the control system has failed. We will be returning to the Orlando Airport. The flight attendants will prepare you for a bumpy landing. Also, if you look out of the windows, you will see that we are dumping fuel from the airplane. We want to have as little on board as possible in the event of a rough touchdown.” In other words, we were about to crash. Many travellers looked visibly frightened now. No one faces death without fear, I thought.
Then a couple of rows to my left, I heard a still calm voice, a woman’s voice, speaking in an absolutely normal conversational tone. I had to find the source of this voice. All around, people cried. Many screamed. Finally, I saw her. In this chaos, a mother was talking to her child. The woman, in her mid-30s, was staring full into the face of her daughter, who looked to be four years old. The child listened closely, sensing the importance of her mother’s words. The mother’s gaze held the child so fixed that she seemed untouched by the sounds of grief and fear around her.
Finally, I leaned over and by some miracle could hear this soft sure voice with the tone of comfort. Over and over again, the mother said, “I love you so much. Remember, no matter what happens, I love you always.” Fortunately, our landing gear held at last and our touchdown was not a tragedy.
However, the voice I heard that day never faded. That mom showed me what a real hero looks like.
1. What does the author imply by saying “some travellers’ knowing smiles” in Paragraph 2?| A．They were used to this kind of experience. |
| B．They were quite familiar with each other. |
| C．They were well-educated passengers. |
| D．They were pretending to be calm. |
| A．The plane met bad weather and had to return immediately. |
| B．The flight indicators showed the plane’s control system failed. |
| C．One of the passengers was badly ill and the plane had to turn back. |
| D．A flight attendant explained flight safety instructions to the passengers. |
| A．They asked for help. |
| B．They remained calm. |
| C．They cried and screamed. |
| D．They rejected the bumpy landing. |
| A．The shape of love. |
| B．The voice of courage. |
| C．The wisdom of a pilot. |
| D．The danger of a journey. |
8 . High-Wire Act
Mickey Wilson had been on the mountain only a few seconds when he heard the scream. Wilson, 28 years old, had just gotten off the cable car (索道缆车) at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area in Keystone, Colorado, along with his friends Billy Simmons and Hans Mueller. Their friend Richard had been on the cable car ahead of them, but when the men reached the top of the lift, he had disappeared. The men walked toward the source of the scream and found skiers stopped on the slope, pointing to the cable car. And then the friends screamed too.
“Oh, Richard!” yelled Mueller.
When Richard had tried to jump off the cable car, his backpack had been caught in the chair, which then dragged him back down the hill. In the process, the backpack belt twisted around his neck, making him breathless. Now Richard’s body was swinging four feet above the snow. The cable car operator had quickly stopped it, and the friends kicked off their skis and ran toward the scene. They made a human pyramid to try to reach Richard, but the unconscious man was too far off the ground. With the clock ticking, Wilson ran to the ladder of a nearby lift tower. Scared skiers watched as he struggled the 25 feet. After he reached the top, Wilson’s first challenge was to climb onto the two-inch steel cable that held the chairs. He handled the balance and height bravely, but he knew he could not walk on the cable. Therefore, he calmed down and sat over it and then used his hands to pull himself to Richard quickly. Wilson’s greatest fear wasn’t that he’d fall, but that he wouldn’t reach Richard. “This was life or death,” he said.
When he reached Richard’s chair, Wilson swung a leg over the cable and attempted to drop down onto it. But as he did that, his jacket caught on the movable footrest, which was in the up position. The footrest began to slide down, with Wilson attached. But before that could happen, he managed to free himself and reached Richard.
Fortunately, the ski patrol (巡查) had gathered below and performed emergency treatment on Richard, who had been hanging for about five minutes, then skied him down to an ambulance.
That night, Richard called from the hospital to express his thanks to Wilson, his other friends and the workers at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.
1. What happened to Richard when he tried to jump off the cable car?| A．He was sick and became unconscious. |
| B．He left his skis which stopped the cable car. |
| C．He was too afraid to move forward in the cable car. |
| D．He was caught by the neck, hanging down the cable. |
| A．People worked together and saved him. |
| B．Wilson climbed on the cable and saved him. |
| C．The ski patrol got him down and treated him. |
| D．Skiers treated him and carried him to the hospital. |
| A．the rescue process was dangerous |
| B．something was wrong with the cable car |
| C．Wilson could manage the process very well |
| D．the operator of the cable car ignored his duty |
| A．it is very dangerous to go skiing |
| B．he that climbs high often falls heavily |
| C．bravery and calm can help you make a difference |
| D．a person with a great talent always has great will-power |
9 . It was late, about 10:15 p.m., when Janice Esposito arrived at the Bellport train station; she jumped into her Honda Odyssey and began the 20-minute drive home to her husband and seven-year-old son. She’d just returned from visiting her mother and had traveled the route many times before. She practically
As it happened, Pete DiPinto was getting ready for
The first car he came upon, 2,000 feet from his front yard, was the one that had
“The gates were starting to come down,” he told Newsday. “I see the headlight of the train.” DiPinto ran quickly to Esposito’s minivan and knocked on the driver’s side window. She
But this one had a twist. “Last night,” South Country Ambulance chief Greg Miglino told CBS New York, “the
| A．drove | B．walked | C．rode | D．hiked |
| A．allowing | B．forcing | C．ordering | D．reminding |
| A．sat | B．stood | C．hid | D．waited |
| A．action | B．noise | C．impact | D．bomb |
| A．class | B．work | C．dinner | D．bed |
| A．doctor | B．driver | C．firefighter | D．engineer |
| A．stopped | B．troubled | C．intended | D．wanted |
| A．duty | B．time | C．target | D．schedule |
| A．warned | B．caught | C．hit | D．followed |
| A．observed | B．spotted | C．realized | D．predicted |
| A．train | B．truck | C．car | D．ambulance |
| A．yet | B．just | C．still | D．even |
| A．yards | B．stations | C．bridges | D．tracks |
| A．belt | B．key | C．bell | D．handle |
| A．unlocked | B．jammed | C．open | D．gone |
| A．bag | B．door | C．book | D．box |
| A．scared | B．ignored | C．trapped | D．defeated |
| A．carried | B．rushed | C．guided | D．pulled |
| A．return | B．work | C．safety | D．life |
| A．police | B．actor | C．reporter | D．hero |
Basketball hero Kobe Bryant's death has drawn an outpouring of shock and sadness across China. Basketball fans in China are now sad after learning that the former Los Angeles Lakers' 18-time NBA All Star had died at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash
