1 . Rescuers in Jersey said Sunday after an all-night search that there was no hope of survivors from an explosion that flattened a three-story apartment block. At least three people were confirmed killed in the accident early Saturday in the Channel island’s port capital St Helier, following a suspected gas leak. “We have three confirmed deaths and it’s fair to say we expect to find more,” police chief Robin Smith told a news conference, saying that around 12 residents remained unaccounted for. “It is with sadness that I am confirming that the search-and-rescue operation has been moved to a recovery operation,” he said.

The phase involved a “painstaking search of the debris” which could take weeks, Smith said, adding that a gas leak was the ‘likely” cause. Aided by sniffer dogs and experts from southern England, Jersey emergency workers had searched the rubble (瓦砾)overnight.

Fire chief Paul Brown confirmed that firefighters were called out to investigate the smell of gas on Friday evening, more than seven hours before the explosion. But in vain. He admitted that something had gone “horribly wrong”, considering the subsequent disaster, but insisted that Jersey islanders could still have confidence in his service. Jersey’s gas supplier, Island Energy, said it was working with the fire service to understand what happened.

Like many others in St Helier, Jersey’s Chief Minister Kristina Moore said she was awoken by the explosion. “Across the island you could hear this extraordinary sound,” she told the BBC. “It’s unthinkable news, so we’re all absolutely shocked and really worried about the people who are involved and about those whose lives have been lost.”

The incident caps a tragic week for Jersey, a British Crown dependency not part of the United Kingdom, whose economy relies on banking, tourism and fishing. “We must call on the collective strength of the island community,” Moore said.

2 . A China plane struck a bird after taking off in Chengdu, Sichuan, and had to immediately return to the airport last October, and it wasn’t the first accident between an aircraft and a bird last year.

In fact, more than 20,000 wildlife strikes with aircraft were reported worldwide in 2023 — the vast majority of those animals being birds. The strikes can also include run-ins with bats or creatures on the ground, such as deer or turtles. Expanding wildlife populations, increases in number of aircraft movements, and a trend toward faster and quieter aircraft all have contributed to the increase in wildlife strikes.

Bird strikes are a hazard not just to commercial airplanes, but to all sorts of aircraft. However, historical data shows that damage is reported in a small percentage of incidents. Last year, 95% of the global strikes involved some kind of damage — and only 5% of those caused “substantial” damage.

Some of the most disturbing types of strikes can happen when one or more birds go into a plane’s engine, which might cause a lot of damage to the aircraft. The pilot would need to return to the airport or find a safe place to land.

In last October’s China plane incident, the Beijing-bound flight was able to land normally in Chengdu after taking into account what the airline described as security concerns. Senior captain Chen Jianguo said pilots are trained on how to respond if they have a bird strike in flight. The pilot in this case did exactly what he was trained to do.

“There are lots of things that are being used by airports to try to manage the habitat and birds around the airport,” said Chen Jianguo. Airports need to manage bird habitats to reduce or get rid of trees and plants that shelter birds, or address wetlands that can attract birds. Collecting data on what kinds of birds are involved in strikes is equally important so the risks can better be managed. Many airports also use audible signals to scare birds away, such as the sounds of fireworks.

3 . Home accidents occur unexpectedly everywhere in and around the house.     1     One of the best ways is to take action ahead to prevent them from happening.

    2     If you find any object lying on the floor, you need to pick it up and keep it on the table. Otherwise, it might hurt anybody in your house. Then, if you find that any of the electrical wires which needs repair, you must do it immediately. This kind of wires or switches can lead to short circuit (短路) in the house.     3     To make your home shock proof, you must check the wires from time to time. This will not only keep you safe, but will also protect other members of the family.

Another way is keeping a first aid kit in your room. When you prepare a first aid kit for your house, you need to decide about the things that you need to keep inside it. First of all, you need band aids. You must make sure that these band aids are of all sizes and they must also be waterproof.     4     The painkillers will help you when you get hurt or if you are in great pain due to some home accidents. You will also need cotton, wool, scissors as well as safety pins (别针). If you have these things inside the first aid kit, then you will surely not have any problem in the future.     5    

4 . In a close-up (特写), one man is pulling the other with all his strength through the window of an SUV, a type of vehicle, which is stuck dangerously on a cliff (悬崖) 30 feet above a busy roadway.

Jason Warnock, then 29, is the man performing the life-saving action. He was driving in Lewiston, Idaho, in April 2015 when he came upon a fallen tree in the middle of the road. “I was like, ‘What happened’?” he told a news website. Warnock stretched out his neck to stare up the side of a cliff. At the very top, where the tree should have been, was an SUV swinging on the edge, held back from falling to the road by a delicate, heavily damaged chain-link fence. Looking inside the car, Warnock could see a panicked Matthew Sitko, 23, beating on the passenger-side window.

That’s when Warnock sprang into action. He crossed a nearby footbridge, and climbed up the cliff to get to the vehicle. When Warnock got to the car, he tried breaking the window with a tool he had on him, only to realize that his cracking was shaking the car and might cause it to slip down the hill. He stopped and turned to calming Sitko enough to get him to open the window. “Give me your hand,” Warnock said. “If this thing goes, I want to have a hold of you so I can at least get you out of there.” Before reaching for the lifeline, Sitko had one request: “Can I grab my phone?” Soon enough, Warnock had freed both man and his machine.

According to the Lewiston police chief, the accident was caused when Sitko, who suffered only minor injuries, lost control of his car. For his part, Warnock insisted he came to Sitko’s aid for one simple reason: “I just did what anyone would do.”

5 . First aid is a crucial aspect of healthcare that can significantly save someone’s life or prevent further injury or illness. Knowing when to use first aid is essential so that proper measures are taken promptly.    1    

Injuries and Accidents

One of the most common instances where first aid is required is in injuries and accidents.    2     In such situations, it is essential to provide immediate care to prevent further damage and ensure that the affected individual receives timely medical attention. Some of the initial steps in first aid for injuries include applying pressure to stop bleeding, immobilizing the affected area, and administering pain relief medication.

Cardiac Arrest (心脏停跳)

Another critical situation where first aid can make a difference is during a cardiac arrest. A cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops functioning; immediate intervention is necessary.     3     The first step in such a situation is to call emergency services and start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until professional help arrives. Knowing how to perform CPR can be life-saving in such situations.

Choking and Suffocation (窒息)

Choking and suffocation are emergencies that can occur at any time, and immediate intervention is necessary to prevent further complications. If someone is choking, it is essential to act quickly.     4     Similarly, if someone is suffocating due to a blocked airway, it is vital to clear the obstruction and ensure that the person’s airway is open.

When to use first aid can significantly save someone’s life or prevent further injury or illness.    5     Call for emergency services, and provide immediate care until professional help arrives. Being prepared and trained in first aid can ensure the safety and well-being of those around us.

6 . A huge fire broke out on 2 September 1666 in London. The fire, known as the Great Fire of London, was the worst fire in the history of London. It burned down more than three quarters of the old city.

The fire started in the very early hours of Sunday morning in the house of the king’s baker. A strong wind blew the fire from the baker’s house into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.

At that time, most of the buildings in London were made of wood, so it was easy for the fire to spread quickly. By eight o’clock, three hundred houses were on fire. By Monday, nearly a kilometre of the city was burning along the Thames River. On Tuesday, which was considered the worst day, the fire destroyed many well-known buildings, including the old St Paul’s Cathedral.

The fire burned until finally hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire were destroyed to create a firebreak. The fire then died out eventually with nothing left to burn.

7 . 200,000 miles from Earth, the crew (机组成员) of the third manned mission (飞行任务) to the Moon faced an astronaut’s worst nightmare: an explosion on the spacecraft. It’s what happened in the Oscar-winning film Apollo 13, but it’s also a true story.

The lift-off of Apollo 13 took place on 11th April 1970. Two days into the mission, the three-man crew were in big trouble. They had been carrying out routine checks when there was a loud bang. Warning lights were starting to flash. Looking out into space, they could see a trail of gas — the spacecraft was leaking (漏) oxygen. They sent out a short message to the scientists back on Earth: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” At first, they thought that a meteor (流星) had hit them, but they later found out that a short circuit (短路) had caused an oxygen container to explode. Whatever the cause, they knew there was no time to lose. Their electricity supply in the command module (指令舱) depended on that oxygen and pretty soon they would run out of both.

The only solution was to move into the lunar module — the section of the spacecraft that would have landed on the Moon. Now though, they were using it as a kind of lifeboat. With its own power supply, oxygen and water, the three men could survive in the lunar module and return to Earth. There was another problem though. In an enclosed space like a lunar module, the carbon dioxide the crew was breathing out was dangerous. The equipment to clear the air of carbon dioxide was only built for two people. Now it had to deal with three. Amazingly, the crew managed to build an adapter out of materials onboard to reduce the carbon dioxide to a safe level.

There was one final obstacle. The lunar module wasn’t strong enough to reenter Earth’s atmosphere so the crew had to go back into the damaged command module. To everyone’s relief, the crew of Apollo 13 arrived safely in the South Pacific Ocean on April 17th. Although the crew didn’t land on the Moon, NASA still considered the mission a success.

10 . Leah Brown aged 36 fell several hundred feet from Oregon’s highest mountain right before the eyes of a group of volunteer rescue workers who rushed to her aid and helped save her life.

The woman was coming down a popular path (小路) on Mt. Hood, about 70 miles east of Portland, on Saturday morning, according to the local police. Mt. Hood is the highest in Oregon, standing at around11.240 feet.

The fall was seen by members of Portland Mountain Rescue (PMR), a volunteer organization focused on helping people in mountainous areas. The group called 911 and rushed to the woman, providing medical care. They helped keep the woman warm for seven hours as the police worked to get her off the mountain safely. Finally, the woman was evacuated (转移) to a parking lot at 9:30 pm and taken to a hospital.

The climber, Leah Brown, said she didn’t know what caused her fall. “I can only guess it was either an ice tool or a crampon (冰爪) that didn’t land and stick like it should have, so I became detached from the mountain,” Brown said. “The thing I’d like to most stress is my appreciation for the members of PMR who evacuated me and took good care of me the whole time,” Brown added. “They saved my life. ”

In a statement after the rescue, PMR warned of the dangerous winter conditions at the mountain. “The short days and lower temperatures mean that the snow tends to be very hard and icy, and the conditions tend to be much steeper. Climbing the mountain in icy conditions is much more difficult,” the group said.