1 . Standing on the edge of the plane, my tandem skydiving (双人跳伞) instructor, Bill, asked “Do you have any last words?” “Yes,” I said, joking. “I hope my parachute opens.”

I’d never felt more alive as Bill and I stepped out and started our freefall. Those first few seconds were amazing. As we reached 4,000 feet, I felt a parachute open above us. This, I was told , would slow us down for a smooth descent (下降). So why were we still traveling so fast? I looked up: The parachute was flopping unopened in the wind. I started to freak out. I could hear Bill swearing as he tried to fix whatever had gone wrong. Seconds passed, which felt like forever, until finally our emergency parachute opened. Except it got caught in the first one, making both parachutes useless. I asked Bill, “Are we going to die?” He said he didn’t know. At that moment, I just felt guilty. I’d brought my family along for the day. I’d invited them along to watch me die.

We hit the ground. I was immediately breathless, and an unimaginable pain shot up my back as we bounced into a lake on a golf course. Gathering all my strength, I turned to face Bill. He started screaming. We were found by some golfers. My mother and sister cried uncontrollably as Bill was put into a helicopter, and I was placed into an ambulance. The next four or five months were intense. I had broken my back. After being discharged (出院) from the hospital, I locked myself in my bedroom and took painkillers. I became terrified of the outside world.

After years of therapy(治疗) and hard work, the deep physical and mental pain is healing. I heard that Bill made a full recovery and returned to skydiving. I was always terrified of being myself and doing the things I wanted. Now I’ve learned that I need to be fearless. There’s nothing like falling from 15,000 feet without a parachute and surviving to force you to make the most of every day.

4 . Home fires can happen quickly, destroying lives and property, but unlike other disasters, most home fires can be prevented. Read on to learn 4 unexpected home fire dangers.

Having old smoke alarms

An effective smoke alarm can make much difference when it comes to surviving a house fire. It’s not enough to change the batteries twice a year, you also need to replace your alarms every decade. “You should test your smoke alarms every month,” says Lorraine Carli, vice president of the National Fire Protection Association. “But also don’t forget to check the dates and replace an alarm that is more than 10 years old.”

Leaving the kitchen while you cook

One in five Americans admitted leaving food cooking unattended on the stove, which was found an American Red Cross survey. Walking away from food cooking in the kitchen is a serious fire risk. “The leading cause of home fires is cooking and the leading cause of those fires is unattended cooking,” says Carli. “If you need to use the stove or oven, be sure to keep an eye on it.”

Turning the heat too high when you cook

Turning up the heat too high can be deadly, even if you’re in the kitchen while you cook. Kevin Kelley, senior director of the American Red Cross, recommends paying close attention and turning off the burner if you see smoke or grease (油脂) starting to boil while frying food.

Having a dirty stove while you cook

If your stove is covered with grease, a small kitchen fire can get out of hand quickly. Clean and clear the area around the stove before turning on the heat, or the result will be dangerous.

5 . Mr. Peter Johnson, aged twenty-three, fought for half an hour to escape from his trapped car yesterday when it landed upside down in three feet of water. Mr. Johnson took the only escape way — through the boot(行李箱).

Mr. Johnson’s car had finished up in a ditch(沟渠) at Romney, Kentucky, after skidding on ice and hitting a bank. “Fortunately, the water began to come in only slowly,” Mr. Johnson said, “I couldn’t force the doors because they were jammed against the walls of the ditch and dared not open the windows because I knew water would come flooding in.”

Mr. Johnson, first tried to attract the attention of other motorists by sounding the horn(喇叭) and hammering on the roof and boot but failed. Then he began to use his own efforts to escape.

Later he said, “It was really a half penny that saved my life. It was the only coin I had in my pocket and I used it to unscrew(旋松) the back seat to get into the boot. I hammered hard with a hammer trying to make someone hear, but no help came.”

It took ten minutes to unscrew the seat, and a further five minutes to clear the boot. Then Mr. Johnson found a wrench(扳手) and began to work on the boot lock. Fifteen minutes passed by. “It was the only chance I had. Finally it gave, but as soon as I unlocked the boot, the water and mud poured in.

His hands and arms cut and hurt，Mr. Johnson got to Beckett Farm nearby, where he was looked after by the farmer’s wife, Mrs. Lucy Bates. Trembling in a blanket, he said, “That thirty minutes seemed like hours.” Only the car wheels could be seen, the police said last night. The vehicle had sunk into two feet of mud at the bottom of the ditch.

8 . Home fires can happen quickly, destroying lives and property, but unlike other disasters, most home fires can be prevented. Read on to learn 4 unexpected home fire dangers.

An effective smoke alarm can make much difference when it comes to surviving a house fire. It’s not enough to change the batteries twice a year, you also need to replace your alarms every decade. “You should test your smoke alarms every month,” says Lorraine Carli, vice president of the National Fire Protection Association. “But also don’t forget to check the dates and replace an alarm that is more than 10 years old.”

One in five Americans admitted leaving food cooking unattended on the stove, found an American Red Cross survey. Walking away from food cooking in the kitchen is a serious fire risk. “The leading cause of home fires is cooking and the leading cause of those fires is unattended cooking,” says Carli.“If you need to use the stove or oven, be sure to keep an eye on it.”

Turning up the heat too high can be deadly, even if you’re in the kitchen while you cook. Kevin Kelley, senior director of the American Red Cross, recommends paying close attention and turning off the burner if you see smoke or grease (油脂) starting to boil while frying food.

If your stove is covered with grease, a small kitchen fire can get out of hand quickly. Clean and clear the area around the stove before turning on the heat, or the result will be dangerous.

﹡After the fire, what now?

Bishop Patrick Chauvet, Notre Dame (巴黎圣母院)’s manager, admitted that the famous building would close for “five to six years” as he spoke with local business owners Wednesday. He added that it was unclear what the church’s 67 employees would be doing in the future. French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that he wanted the church rebuilt in five years.

﹡What are the new rules?

While tourists can’t go inside the site itself, the area still may prove popular to those paying their respects. Visitors are welcome to write messages of support in both the main and local city halls.

The island that houses the church has been closed and the people there have been evacuated since the fire. Paris businessmen who depend on Notre Dame tourism are worried about the church’s future as well as their own.

﹡_________________________

It’s known that spring is a busy time for tourists in Paris. The travel company recommends people visit other places, like the Basilique Saint-Denis, the Sacre-Coeur and so on. Those who tend to observe church services during Holy Week are advised to go to Saint-Eustache.

﹡Looking ahead to rebuilding

It seems rebuilding can begin, since firefighters put out the fire early Tuesday, more than 12 hours after nearly 400 firefighters had battled the flames that changed the city’s skyline. Two policemen and one firefighter were not badly injured, according to the Paris Fire Service.

A large campaign to raise money already is underway to rebuild the church. Up to Wednesday, donations came to $1 billion.

10 . It’s not common that a grandmother aged 89 is crowned Queen of Icebergs in north America, but when it does happen it’s quite the sight.

On a recent trip to Iceland, Judith Streng became that grandma after her son attempted to take a photograph of her sitting on an ice structure that looks like a throne (宝座) at Diamond Beach in Jokul. Shortly after Streng sat down to pose, the piece of ice broke off and floated into the water.

“I thought it was safe. One girl had been on it and then two girls at the same time, and it was very secure with them. When I got on it, it started to shake and a wave was coming in. A very large wave came in and made the throne kind of shake, and I could tell that I was slipping off,” Streng told ABC News.

Streng’s story went hot after her 24-year-old granddaughter Catherine tweeted a text message exchange she had with her father about the incident. “My grandmother almost got lost at sea in Iceland today!”

Catherine, who teaches English in Seoul, South Korea, explained via Twitter that her father described the scene vividly. He has a PhD in English, and described the event in the following words, “She climbed to the throne after a wave had pulled back and left it briefly exposed on the beach. Then a wave washed in and removed the ice throne, rocking it from side to side. When the wave left, it lifted the throne and carried her out into the sea with the tide.”

Luckily for the Streng family, Randy, a licensed boat captain from Florida with knowledge of water rescue strategies witnessed the whole thing, and was able to save the day.