A terrible fire began to burn at France’s world-famous Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral (巴黎圣母院)    1    the evening of April 15. Flames could be seen rising through the top of the monument.     2    (it) tall, narrow top later fell down. It took 15 hours for 400 French firefighters     3    (put) out the fire.     4    (fortunate), the main stone structure, including the two bell towers, has been saved, but there is little information on the condition of the cathedral’s glass windows and paintings.

Notre-Dame     5    (date) back to the 12th century. French writer Victor Hugo used it as the setting of his famous story, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame,    6    was first published in 1831. Sitting in the center of Paris, along the Seine River, Notre-Dame is one of the world’s most famous tourist     7    (site). About 12 million people visit it each year.

One man said, “Notre-Dame     8    (destroy) but the soul of France was not.” French President Emmanuel Macron promised that Notre-Dame would be rebuilt and asked for worldwide help repairing it. Many countries offered assistance, because Notre-Dame is part of the     9     (culture) heritage of mankind and     10    symbol for Europe.

4 . A valuable sketch (素描) from World WarⅠhas turned up in a garage sale in Perth. It’s a sketch of soldiers playing soccer with a tin can during an unofficial truce (停战) between German and Allied soldiers on the Western Front in 1914. The artwork was drawn by an unnamed German soldier during the war on the Western Front.

The artwork was given to Private Jack Shelley, a British soldier, when he was defending the town of Frelinghien, France. The sketch is an important historical document, as it provides evidence that the tales of enemy soldiers socializing together are true. But for Private Shelley’s descendants(后代) it has even greater value, since it was his prized possession. Jessie Shelley, Jack’s great-granddaughter, has fond memories of the old man sharing stories about his experiences in the war when he came to live permanently in Australia in 1930. the family lost track of the artwork after Jack’s possessions were moved during the sale of his house when he died in 1984.

‘Great-grandpa had a tobacco tin with a dozen or so buttons from the uniforms of men from both sides. He told us all the details of every one of those buttons. To Great-grandpa they represented real people he had known, some of whom hadn’t come home from the war. He had at least two buttons from German uniforms that he told us were exchanged between the men involved in the Christmas Day Truce.’

On Christmas Day of 1914, the soldiers came out of their trenches(战壕) into no-man’s-land and shared food, drinks and cigarettes. Some even exchanged small gifts. The men even played football games together. Later, this spirit of cooperation continued in unofficial agreements between the sides to stop shooting at mealtimes and even at times when soldiers were working in the open.

This fascinating image of peace and humanity during the war has continued through the years. The sketch is a symbol of the potential for humanity, hope and kindness to exist in even the most violent circumstances.