Traffic accidents cause many deaths and injuries every year.

In order to

Students' Union

Born in a wealthy family, my nephew, Jack, leads such a thoroughly decent and cosy life that he hardly meets with cruel adversities. He has been dreaming of an adventure since he was young. At 18, Jack resolved to join an expedition     1     (advertise) in the newspaper, but the leader turned him down, thinking Jack was not     2     (qualify). Full of vigour, Jack never abandoned his dream for he was so enthusiastic about a great voyage. At 19, he joined the navy and     3     (assign) to be a steward with low wages. On a bitter cold day, the crew went aboard a massive ship bound for Atlantic Ocean. Jack was genuine, good-tempered and loyal and he wasn't selfish, cither. He often played the banjo for recreation. So those who were on the ship all liked him.     4     (fortunate). one day, the motor broke down and the ship got crushed on a huge iceberg. When the ship sank, their hearts also sank. At that time, the calm captain made a     5     (commit) to save them and commanded them to throw away     6     (they) belongings such as stoves, blankets, bats. cupboards and other pieces of furniture. Finally, they were fortunate enough     7     (escape) the ship. It was their endurance, resolution and perseverance     8     helped them survive. On the distant island, Jack managed to make fire with animal fat.     9     gave off a smelly smell and then he cooked sea animals. One month later, they were saved by a passing ship. In summary, it has been     10     unforgettable episode in Jack’s life.

A fire     1    (break) out in the Henderson Tower, starting from the 8th floor and     2    (spread) quickly through the tower block on Sunday night.     3     has been confirmed that 4 people are dead and dozens of people are injured, 5 of     4     are in a critical condition. The fire was started by a     5    (drop) cigarette end on a carpet of the 8th floor and it is     6    (current)being investigated further. 

News reports on     7     same events usually contain different or even contradictory information, because journalists decide on different     8    (priority), which would affect how they report an event. So facing such     9    (fact) differences, do not rush to the conclusion that one of the news reports gives false information. Checking different sources enables us     10    (draw) a more informed conclusion. 

In a word, when we read news reports, we should be critical news readers.

9 . Which is safer-staying at home, traveling to work on public transport, or working in the office? Surprisingly, each of these carries the same risk, which is very low. However, what about flying compared to working in the chemical industry? Unfortunately, the former is 65 times riskier than the latter! In fact, the accident rate of workers in the chemical industry is less than that of almost any of human activity, and almost as safe as staying at home.

The trouble with the chemical industry is that when things go wrong they often cause death to those living nearby. It is this that makes chemical accidents so newsworthy. Fortunately they are extremely rare. The most famous ones happened at Texas City (1947), Flixborough( 1974), Seveso (1976), Pemex (1984) and Bhopal (1984).

Some of these are always in the minds of the people even though the loss of life was small. No one died at Seveso, and only 28 workers at Flixborough. The worst accident of all was Bhopal, where up to 3,000 were killed. The Texas City explosion of fertilizer killed 552. The Pemex fire at a storage plant for natural gas in the suburbs of Mexico City took 542 lives, just a month before the unfortunate event at Bhopal.

Some experts have discussed these accidents and used each accident to illustrate a particular danger. Thus the Texas City explosion was caused by tons of ammonium nitrate (硝酸氨), which is safe unless stored in great quantity. The Flixborough fireball was the fault of management, which took risks to keep production going during essential repairs. The Seveso accident shows what happens if the local authorities lack knowledge of the danger on their doorstep. When the poisonous gas drifted over the town, local leaders were incapable of taking effective action. The Pemex fire was made worse by an overloaded site in an overcrowded suburb. The fire set off a chain reaction of exploding storage tanks. Yet, by a miracle, the two Largest tanks did not explode. Had these caught fire, then 3,000 strong rescue team and fire fighters would all have died.

10 . Norwood, a junior High School student, was driving three friends home in St. Petersburg, when another driver crashed into her from her left and made her car hit the tree. The impact jammed shut the driver’s side door, so Norwood climbed out the front window. Two of her friends managed to get out of the car unharmed, but her 16-year-old friend Zarria didn’t. She run back to the car only to find Zarria was just sitting there reactionless.

A lot of people started to gather around to see what was happening. Norwood started yelling, “Back up, back up, she needs space.” Norwood pulled Zarria out of the back seat, avoiding broken glass from the window. “That’s when I checked her pulse on her neck. I put my head against her chest, and I didn’t really hear nothing. So that’s when I just started doing CPR on her.” Norwood told the reporter. After the 30 compressions and two rescue breaths, Zarria regained consciousness. Ambulance quickly arrived and rushed her to the hospital to receive medical help.

When Miller, Norwood’s high school teacher, learned that Norwood saved a friend just   one day after completing CPR training, she was at a loss of words and so proud. Norwood participates in the school’s Athletic Lifestyle Management Academy (ALMA). The program prepares students for various careers in health science. “We do vital signs and they learn how to take blood pressure and check pulse.” Miller introduced. And another one of the skills learned is CPR. “There are two components, a hands-on skills component where they have to demonstrate that they’re able to do CPR well, and then there’s a written test component, showing that they remember that knowledge.”

Thanks to Norwood’s quick thinking, Zarria is recovering well. She also isn’t surprised by her friend’s actions. “She will always help any way she can, so I wasn’t really shocked about that.”