Lost at sea
Two men from the Solomon Islands have been rescued after spending 29 days lost at sea.
The men
“I look forward to going back home
Nanjikana and Junior Qoloni took off from Mono Island on Sept. 3 in a motorboat to travel 200 km to Noro on New Georgia Island. However, soon after they set out, their boat was hit by heavy winds and rain, which made unclear the coastline they were following
“When the bad weather came, it was bad, but it was
When the rain had finally passed, Nanjikana and Qoloni had already drifted far out to sea. They spent the next 29 days
A fisherman found and rescued the two men on Oct. 2 off the coast of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, about 400 km from
Nanjikana and Qoloni
2 . No visit to the beautiful city of Paris, France is complete without a visit to the Notre Dame de Paris. The cathedral, built from 1163 to 1345, is one of the world's best examples of ancient architecture. It lies in the center of Paris, along the Seine River. French writer Victor Hugo used it as the setting of his famous story The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Unfortunately, on April 15, 2019. the old cathedral was covered in a big flame.
The initial fire alert sounded at 6:20 pm local time. Church officials quickly evacuated the tourists inside. As it turned out, they made the right decision when the second alarm went off twenty-three minutes later at 6:43 pm, the flames were visible. Thousands of passers-by watched in horror as the fire began destroying Notre Dame's rooftop. It took hundreds of firefighters, who worked through the night, over 12 hours to put out the fire. By the time the fire was fully contained in the early hours of Tuesday, April 16. 2019, most of the cathedral's ceiling, as well as its wooden spire — which had proudly stood 93 meters above the root for centuries — had collapsed.
Fortunately, thanks to quick action by Paris firefighters, the cathedral's most sacred relic — the Crown of Thorns — was safely transported after the fire broke out. Church officials and firefighters formed a human chain to remove other priceless treasures, such as artworks and furnishings, and load them onto waiting police cars. The cathedral's famous 18th-century organ, which boasts more than 8.000 pipes, also survived the disaster.
The tire is believed to be caused by the cathedral's ongoing repair work. Meanwhile donations to help restore the structure are pouring in worldwide at an unprecedented rate, reaching almost$ 1 billion within just two days after the fire. French President Emmanuel Macron described the fire as a “terrible tragedy”, but added, “the worst had been avoided”. Macron has promised that the French people will “rebuild the cathedral together”. “Notre Dame is ours, it's our literature, and it's our imagery. We will rebuild it. This is probably part of the French destiny, and we will finish it in the next five years.” Macron said, “Paris without Notre Dame? Madness.” While Macron is optimistic that the cathedral will be ready to welcome visitors by the Paris 2024. Summer Olympics, experts believe it will take a lot longer to restore the old structure.
1. What can we know about the Notre Dame de Paris?| A．Nothing remained after the big fire. |
| B．The famous writer Hugo wrote his famous story in it. |
| C．It is located in central Paris, with over 600 year's history. |
| D．It houses more treasures than the other Cathedrals in Europe. |
| A．No flames could be seen. | B．Tourists panicked at once. |
| C．Church officials didn't respect. | D．Visitors ignored the alert. |
| A．The pipe organ | B．Treasures in the cathedral |
| C．The Crown of Thorns | D．The wooden top of the cathedral |
| A．The police are actively investigating the cause of the fire. |
| B．Tourists are sure to visit the cathedral again in five year’s time. |
| C．Experts think to restore Notre Dame may take longer than expected. |
| D．The French government will have to bear the total expense of the restoration. |
Three theories
Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean, was attempting a round- the-world flight in 1937. She planned to land on the tiny Pacific Ocean island of Howland. She never arrived. Her fate, and that of her navigator (导航员)Fred Noonan, remains one of aviation’s (航空的)greatest unsolved mysteries. Researchers have spent millions of dollars investigating the case and several books have been published that examined different theories.
The official US position is that Earhart ran out of fuel and crashed in the Pacific Ocean. The radio log from aUS Coast Guard ship indicates that she must have been near Howland when contact was lost
Another theory says that Earhart could have crashed on a different island, called Nikumaroro, and died since the island is uninhabited.
Yet another theory claims she was captured while on a secret mission to the Marshall Islands in the North Pacific and eventually returned to the US with a new identity.
Lost and found?
The missing pilot
February 18, 2011
Amelia Earhart’s dried saliva (唾液)could help solve the longstanding mystery of the aviator’s 1937 disappearance, according to scientists who plan to take samples of her DNA from her correspondence. A new project aims to create a genetic profile that could be used to test recent claims that a bone found on the South Pacific island ofNikumaroro is Earharf s.
Justin Long, a Canadian whose family is partially funding the DNA project, points out that at the moment, anyone who finds parts of bones can claim that they are Earhart’s remains. According to Justin Long, Earhart's letters are the only items that are both proved to be hers and that might contain her DNA. Hair samples are one of the best sources of DNA, but no hair samples from Earhart are known. There was, in theory, a sample of Earhart's hair in the International Women’s Air and Space Museum in Cleveland, US. However, a 2009 study revealed that the sample was actually thread.
The remains of Earhart, her navigator Noonan, and their twin-engine plane were never recovered. But in 2009, a group of researchers found a bone fragment on Nikumaroro that they believed might have been from one of Earhart' s fingers. However, some scientists have suggested the Nikumaroro bone fragment isn’t human at all but may instead belong to a sea turtle that was found nearby.
The new Earhart DNA project will be headed by Dongya Yang, a genetic scientist at Simon Fraser University in Canada. Yang will work on four letters Earhart wrote to her family. Much of Earhart's correspondence was done by her secretary but the assumption is that Earhart must have sealed the envelopes of these personal letters herself.
1. Why are there so many theories concerning where Amelia Earhart was?| A．It is still a mystery. |
| B．She left with some secrets. |
| C．Her flight cost much money. |
| D．She returned with a new identity. |
| A．To search Nikumaroro more thoroughly. |
| B．To confirm if a bone belongs to Amelia Earhart. |
| C．To find out who Amelia Earhart often wrote to. |
| D．To locate Amelia Earhart’s remains accurately. |
| A．None of Amelia Earhart’s DNA has been collected so far. |
| B．Amelia Earhart took delight in writing letters to her family. |
| C．The Nikumaroro bone fragment belonged to Amelia Earhart. |
| D．The hair sample in Cleveland’s museum was Amelia Earhart's. |
1. What did the drivers on the motorway to Warsaw find?
| A．The road was blocked. | B．The road was flooded. |
| C．The road was frozen with snow. | D．The road was covered with spilled gas. |
| A．A truck hit a barrier and overturned. | B．The truck driver slept while driving. |
| C．The heavy snow made driving difficult. | D．A truck plunged into a pool of chocolate. |
| A．It was lucky that no passenger got injured. | B．It was hard to remove the spilled substance. |
| C．It was long before the cleanup was finished. | D．It was difficult to contact the manufacturer. |
SOS message on the sand saves missing sailors
Micronesia is an area of the western Pacific Ocean with more than 600 islands,
Recently, three Micronesian sailors set out to sail 42 km from one Micronesian island to another. Unfortunately, they got
Pikelot is just 450 meters long and 280 meters wide. The highest point on Pikelot is only four meters above the sea. No people live there, and there is no water. The little island
Three days after the three sailors set out on their voyage, they did not arrive at their destination, so ships and aircraft in the area began looking for the
During this time, the three sailors decided to write
| A．It was seriously damaged. | B．It was badly flooded. |
| C．It crashed on a bridge. | D．It was beyond repair. |
| A．She threw something at a truck. |
| B．She threw herself out of window and broke her leg. |
| C．She moved a truck to save a little boy. |
| D．She rushed to a moving truck to save a kid. |
| A．The woman knew Ross was a dog lover. |
| B．The man has let Ross drive his car before. |
| C．The man shouldn’t have lent his car to Ross. |
| D．Ross lost several dogs last time he drove a car. |
| A．The man had poor imagination because of the car accident. |
| B．The man must have advised the woman to wear the seat belt. |
| C．The woman was likely to have got seriously injured in the car accident. |
| D．The woman wasn’t wearing the seat belt when the accident happened. |
1.
| A．To make it stand out among the exhibits. |
| B．To give the impression of discolouration. |
| C．To make it look like the original piece. |
| D．To showcase the artistic style of the artist. |
| A．It was sold for a record one million pounds. |
| B．It was restored to its original state. |
| C．It was partially damaged by accident. |
| D．It was thrown away on purpose. |
| A．Accidents caused by lack of security in museums. |
| B．Impacts of damaged artworks on the public. |
| C．Challenges of guarding the artworks in museums. |
| D．Incidents of artworks falling victim to human errors. |
