Rescuers free elephant from a dangerous pit (深坑)

A wild Asian elephant accidentally fell into a deep mud hole in the ground on March 13 while playing with other members of a herd in a forest in Mengla county, Southwest China’s Yunnan province.

The police     1     arrived at the scene saw the elephant struggling to get out, with another elephant     2     (try) to pull it out using its trunk (象鼻) and legs.     3    , as the pit was deep and the surface was smooth and wet, the trapped elephant     4     (stick). After observing the surroundings and considering all of the     5    (possibility), rescuers determined the best chance of freeing the animal     6     (be) through the use of an excavator (挖掘机).

The driver of the excavator     7     (careful) operated the machine so as not to annoy the herd. After 10 minutes,     8     exit to get out was formed for the elephant to finally make     9     (it) escape. While walking away, the animal waved its trunk     10     the excavator as if to give thanks.

The 2.5-ton elephant then returned to the nature reserve with the rest of its herd.

3 . The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC)confirmed on Monday that a Boeing 737 passenger plane with 132 aboard crashed in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The CAAC has activated an emergency mechanism and sent a working group to the scene.

The crash site of the Chinese passenger plane was located at Molang Village, Langnan Town in Tengxian County, Wuzhou City in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to the local emergency department.

The Wuzhou City Fire Rescue Detachment immediately dispatched 23 fire trucks and 117 fire rescue personnel to the site. The Guangxi Fire Rescue Corps launched an emergency plan and reinforced 538 fire rescue personnel from nearby detachments for further help.

The forest fire bureau has deployed 450 firefighters stationed in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, and Guilin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to the scene.

China Eastern Airlines has grounded all Boeing 737-800 aircraft after the crash, company officials said.

Rescuers are making all-out efforts to retrieve (检索、找回) the black boxes of a passenger plane with 132 people aboard that crashed in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region Monday afternoon, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China said Tuesday night.

The plane was severely damaged and the investigation is very difficult, Zhu Tao, head of CAAC aviation safety office, told a press briefing.

At present, the investigation team is carrying out a full search in accordance with the procedures, with rescuers exploring the crash site and going all out to search the black boxes, Zhu said.

The team is also thoroughly investigating other aspects, including flight, maintenance, air traffic control, meteorology (气象学), aircraft design and manufacturing, Zhu said.

Based on known information, the authorities do not yet have a clear clue to the cause of the passenger plane crash, the official said.

9 . Brendon Birt accidentally took a wrong turn down a street in Red Oak, Iowa. But it turned out it was exactly where he was _________! As he drove down the road, he saw heavy smoke from a family’s home. He knew the home was on fire. Without thinking, he stopped his car, called 911 and ran towards the _________ Brendon ran up and saw most of the downstairs was already full of _________. “I just believed there had to be someone _________ inside the house because it was so late at night,” Brendon said. “I knew I had to act _________. Every second that was going by was just getting worse.” He _________ to the side of the home and started pounding on the windows with _________, calling for the people to get out.

The homeowner, Tender Lehman, was _________ that night but her three younger children ages 8, 14, and 17 were inside being looked after by her _________ son, Bryce Harrison, 22. No smoke alarms __________, so if it weren’t for Brendon’s warning, they might not have ever __________ Brendon was relieved (放心) when he saw the four children run out of the __________ to safety. Days later, Tender came home and went to see the man who __________ all four of her children. “I’m so __________,” Tender said. “My kids wouldn’t have __________ it, without your kind action.”