SOS message on the sand saves missing sailors

Micronesia is an area of the western Pacific Ocean with more than 600 islands,     1     covers a huge area of ocean north of the large island of New Guinea.

Recently, three Micronesian sailors set out to sail 42 km from one Micronesian island to another. Unfortunately, they got     2     (lose), and then they ran out of fuel. After a long time drifting without power in the ocean, they landed on the tiny island of Pikelot, more than 100 km from their destination.

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     3     (cover) in trees and has sandy beaches.

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     4     (miss) men. But it was almost impossible to decide where     5     (look) because there are so many small islands and the ocean is so large. One of the ships was the Australian navy ship HMAS Canberra, which     6     (sail)   from Australia to Hawaii and had a helicopter on board.

During this time, the three sailors decided to write     7     message on the beach on their tiny island. They wrote a huge SOS in the sand. SOS is an international signal that people use     8       they need help. Luckily, people on an American aircraft saw the SOS message in the sand and contacted the Canberra. A helicopter       9     the ship landed on the beach and gave the men food and water. Soon after, a Micronesian boat arrived and rescued the three sailors. They are very lucky to be alive, and it was the SOS message in the sand     10     saved them.

I boarded a small plane together with my sister and 42 other passengers. While flying over the mountains, the plane     1     (encounter) violent airflow. Losing control suddenly, it hit an unknown mountain peak. The impact of the crash claimed the lives of a few passengers immediately, leaving many injured including my sister.

Adding a slight chance of being found out, we waited in the open, as opposed to waiting in the plane,     2     it was freezing cold. At night, we slept side by side to keep ourselves warm and melted snow into water. We knew our food couldn’t last us long, sticking to the hope that we     3     (rescue) soon.

We knew from radio that the outside world     4     (try) to look for the missing aircraft. However, the aircraft was white and blended in with the snow, making it impossible to be seen from the sky. Later, our hope was dead when we found out via our radio that the rescue effort ended.

Now climbing over the mountains ourselves to search for help seemed to be our only chance of survival.     5     the crash site was an awful place, with urine (尿) everywhere and smelling of death, I still wished to stay there. But my sister would give in to her injuries soon     6     we were not rescued. Thus, together with two other people, Canessa and Vizintin, I decided to walk through the icy wilderness for help. Carrying some food and water, the three climbers started our journey. If we had known anything about climbing, we would have realized that we were already finished. The mountain we were about to challenge was one with slopes so steep     7     it would scare away a team of expert climbers. Our ignorance provided our only chance.

We endured exhaustion and starvation and we had reached the top.

To our horror, we found nothing. Disappointed, we were about to give up hope     8     I spotted a valley at the base of the mountain and again we started making our way down the mountain.

Eventually, at the bottom of the mountain we were helped by a local farmer who called the police for help. I then     9     (guide) the rescue team via a helicopter to the crash site. Finally, after we had endured nineteen cruel days, the world found out that there were 16 survivors who     10     (cheat) death despite the odds (困难).

4 . On the morning of September 11,2001, computer sales manager Michael Hingson, who is blind, went early to his office on the 78th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center to prepare for a meeting. As Michael worked, his guide dog, a Labrador retriever     1     (name) Roselle, dozed by his feet.

At 8:46 a.m., a tremendous boom rocked the building, eliciting screams throughout the floor. Michael grabbed Roselle, trusting that the dog     2     (lead) him out of the danger, and they navigated their way to a stairwell.

“Forward,” Michael instructed, and they descended the first of 1,463 steps to the lobby.     3     about ten floors, the stairwell grew crowded and hot, and the fumes from jet fuel had made it hard to breathe.

When a woman became crazy, yelling that they wouldn’t make it. Roselle accompanied the woman     4     she finally petted the dog, calmed herself, and kept walking down the stairs.

Around the 30th floor, firefighters started passing Michael on their way up. Each one stopped to offer him assistance. He declined but let Roselle be petted,     5     (provide) many of the firefighters with     6     would be their last experience of unconditional love.

After about 45 minutes, Michael and Roselle reached     7     looby, and 15 minutes later, they emerged outside to a scene of chaos. Suddenly the police yelled for everyone to run as the South Tower began to collapse.

Michael kept a tight grip on Roselle’s harness, using voice and hand commands, as they ran to a street opposite the crumbling tower. The street bounced like a trampoline, and “a deafening roar” like a hellish freight train filled the air. Hours later, Michael and Roselle made it home safely. At that moment, they thought they were     8     (lucky ) in the world.

In the months that followed, Michael became a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, the organization by which Roselle     9     (train). Together, they spread their message about trust and teamwork.

In 2004, Roselle developed a blood disorder,     10     prevented her from guiding and touring. She died in 2011.

“I’ve had many other dogs,” Michael wrote, “but there is only one Roselle.”

My amazing escape

When Helen Monahan got a phone call asking her to pick up a friend’s children from school while collecting     1     own she grabbed her coat and headed down the road. It meant     2     (leave) home five minutes earlier than she had intended—but it could also have saved her life.

Minutes     3     she shut the door, a light aircraft crashed on to her empty house.

“I am trying not to think     4     would have happened if I had left home at the normal time,’ said Mrs Monahan.

Pilot Donald Campbell also had reason to be thankful. The 52-year-old surgeon walked away from the wreckage     5     only minor injuries to his face and head. He had been steering the four-seater Piper Seneca towards Shoreham Airport in West Sussex when the twin engines cut out. It plunged and clipped a railway bridge,     6     (crash) into the £150,000 three-bedroom house in the town of Shoreham-by-Sea. It fell into the back garden, which     7     (litter) with children’s toys.

Mrs Monahan, 36, said: 'It looks like something out of a film set. The tail of the plane was up in the air and the nose was in the fish pond.’

Mr Campbell,     8     flies all over the country to treat the patients of his private practice, said: “I was coming into the airport and both engines cut out. It began to yaw (偏离航线）quite sharply to one side.

‘I couldn’t land on the railway line because of the electric cable and I saw a gap by the houses and aimed next to them. I remember a bang. The wing tip must     9     (hit) the roof. It was a bit rough.’

Safety official were last night examining the plane     10     (try) to discover what went wrong.

Without Hesitation

On a bright Friday afternoon in spring, Sumeja Tulic had every reason to enjoy walking the streets of New York, a city she     1    （move) to nine months earlier from London to attend journalism school. “When the weather is good, it’s very hard to find a reason     2     (be) dissatisfied with the city “ she said.

At the City Hall station, she settled onto a bench. It was just after 2 p.m. Only a few people were at the station . A man leaned against a pillar （柱）, the way anyone might,     3    （wait) for the train. The stillness was interrupted by an announcement that the next train was two stations away. Then Tulic saw the man at the pillar collapsing forward onto the tracks.

The man who had fallen was not moving. Two more men jumped down to help.

“I don’t know     4     these men got the quickness,” Tulic said. “The man fell was about six foot tall. He was kind of     5     (jam) in the tracks. It was frightening to know that the train was coming.”

On the tracks, the unconscious man was held up to a sitting position by the three men, who then lifted him from below to others who pulled him from above and rolled him onto the platform. Then the rescuers     6     (rescue) by helping hands.     7     they were all clear, the train pulled in. “People getting off the train walked around this unconscious man,” Peterson said. He was not, however, alone. Two of the men     8     had jumped onto the platform were holding his hands. “They were saying, ‘Buddy, you’re going to be fine,’” Tulic said. “This was an additional layer of goodness.”

The ambulance arrived, and the man was taken to a local hospital     9     serious but non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

“That is the     10     (great) thing,” Tulic said. “The infrastructure （基础建设） in this city of millions is the people themselves providing, being there for others. Without even knowing the person, who he is. It was beautiful to see.”