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7.M2U
1.Reading-Boy missing,police puzzledPolicein Americahave steppedup theirsearch fora fifteen-year-old boywho wentmissing threedaysago in Dover,New Hampshire.This incidenthas receivedgreat interestdue toreports of strangelights in the skyand of alien visitsaround thetime theboy disappeared.Justin Foster,a highschool student,was lastseen Fridaynight.That eveningat8p.m.Justin went toplay baseballwith twofriends,who bothsay Justinwent homeafter thegame.Witnesses also say theysawJustin walkingtowards hishouse at
10.45p.m.Justins sister,Kelly,aged nine,says sheheard herbrotherreturn homeat about11p.m.‘I wasgetting readyfbr bed,1Kelly said.Austin wentstraight tohis room.I didntsee him,but Iheardhim puton hisfavorite CD.I wentto bed,and waswoken uparound midnightby abright lightoutsidemy window.1At first,the younggirl thoughtit was the lightof thefull moon,but thenshe realizedthat it wasmoving andcoming closer.I pulledback thecurtains andsaw a large spaceshipflying outside.It hadblue lightsall aroundit,and therewere manywindows.Standing insidewere lots ofstrangecreatures withwhite skinand largeblackeyes.I wasfrightened!!Kelly said that thespaceship thenmoved aroundto theside of the house,towards herbrothersbedroom.*There was a flashof lightand Iheard Justinshout,and thenthe UFOjust disappeared.Ihavent seenJustin since.Im surethe alienstook him.,Kelly thenran andwoke upher mother.However,since Mrs Foster thoughtthat Justin was spendingthenight with a friend,she assumedthat Kellywas havinga baddream,and senther backto bed.MrsFoster was working that night onhis roadconstruction job,and wasnot homewhen theseevents occurred.When Justindid notshow upfor lunchthe nextday,MrsFosterbecame worriedand toldher husbandtocall thepolice.Some people inDoveralsosaythat theysaw aliensthatnight.Its happenedto me!said MrsMavisWood.The alienstook meaboard theUFO so that theycould doresearch onme.Luckily,they returnedmehome withoutany injuries.The wholeexperience wasternble!I haventbeen sleepingwell sinceIreturned home.I thinkJustin wastaken awayby them,too.1When askedabout thepossibility thatJustinwastaken by aliens,Detective SamPeterson,who hastakencharge of the case,told journalists,Sometimes peoplemake upsuch amazingstories.Theresreally nohard evidencethat alienstook him.So,while wehave notdismissed theidea,we arelookinginto otherpossibilities as well.We willnot giveup untilwe findout whathappened.,
8.M2U
1.Project-Yeti,Bigfoot and the Wild Man ofShennongjiaFor centuries,people havereported seeinga wildcreature in the Himalayascalled Yeti.The Yetiissaid to be alarge,hairy animalthat walksan twofeet like a humanbeing.People believe that Yetissometimescome downfrom the mountains toattack villagers.In1998,an Americanmountain climbersaid thathe sawa Yetion the Chinese sideof theHimalayas.*It walkedlikeahuman,but ithad thickblack furand was about sixfeet tallwith hugeshoulders,very longarms andlarge hands,he said.In2007,an AmericanTV teamsaw Yetitracks33centimetres inlength in the snownear MountQomolangma.They madecopies of these tracksand hadthem examinedby a scientist in the USA.Hereported that they lookedlike thetracks ofa similarcreature,called Bigfoot,which somepeople believelivesin theforests of the north-west of the USA.Yeti andBigfoot aresimilar toa creatureknown asthe WildMan ofShennongjia.There havebeendozens ofreports thatpeople haveseen aWildManin theShennongjia NatureReserve inwestern HubeiProvince,China.In onecase,a groupof engineersran after the creature,which movedwith amazingspeedand strength.Large trackshave alsobeen discoveredwhich somepeople saybelong to the WildMan.Because ofthese reportsand thetracks,there havebeen severalorganized searchesfor thiscreature,but nostrong evidencefor existencehas ever been found.Dr GroverKrantz,ascientistfrom WashingtonState University,studied reportsof suchstrangecreatures formany years.He becameconvinced theyexist.He believedthat thesecreatures arelinked toa common ancestor,an animalthat livedin Asiasome300,000years ago.In hisopinion,this animalmadeits wayto otherparts ofthe world,and continuesto surviveeven today.Scientists hopethat themystery willbe solvedone day.If suchcreatures reallyexist,we mighthavethe chance to seeone withour owneyes.
9.M2U
2.Reading-An adventurein Africa30JuneDear AihuaHoware yougoingSorry Ihavent writtenfor solong.Ive beenquite busyarranging myholidaywith myolder brother,Colin.Colin andI planto spenda fewweeks travellingbefore hegoes touniversity.Were going to visitso manyexciting placesand dolotsofextraordinary things.We will go toAfricafirst.I cantwait!Have youever beenthereWe leaveLondon on15July,and well be takinga flightto Morocco,in northernAfrica.Weregoing toride camelsthrough theSahara Desert.Its thebiggest desertin theworld-about thesize oftheUS!I expectit willbe veryhot,dry anddusty there.Well betravelling bycamel withlocal guides,camping intents andsleeping on the ground.Ive heardthat,intheSahara,there isno shadeduring theday,and thestars seemespecially brillianton clearnights,ril bringa flashlightwith meso thatril beableto seeinthedark.Altogether,the tripwill takesix days.That meansIll haveto siton acamel fbralmosta week-how uncomfortable!I hopemy camellikes me!After thetrip bycamel,were goingto traveldown theRiver Nile.Well startat Lake Victoria.Alittle waydown theriver fromLakeVictoria,the watergets quiterough.So,well gowhite-water rafting.Its quitedangerous,but veryexciting!You haveto weara helmetand alife jacketfor protection,just incaseyou fallinto thewater.Then,were goingon atrip tosee wildanimals inKenya.WeUl livewith thelocal peoplein theirvillages,and eat and drinkwhatever theydo,including cowsblood!Do youthink Ishould drinkitSince wellbe walkingfor almosttwo weeks,Ill needto buyalargebackpack inadvance tocarrymy suppliesof foodand water.During theday,well walkacross the land,following thetracks ofwildlifesuch aselephants,lions andgiraffes.We511try toget asclose aspossible tothe animals,even thoughtheyredangerous,sothat we cantake somereally goodphotographs.But dontwony aboutme.Ourguides willhave gunswith themfbr defiance——they canuse theguns toscare theanimals awayif theycometoo near.I reallywant tosee anelephant upclose,and Colinwants tosee agiraffe.After that,wellbemoving onto Tanzania,where were goingtoclimb MountKilimanjaro.Mountain climbingcan bevery tiring,and manypeople feelsick asthe atmospheregets thinner,so ColinandI willmake surethatwewill getplenty ofrest.The Africanpart ofour tripwill takeabout fourweeks.Afterwards,weregoingtotheHimalayas.ril sendyou postcardsfrom allthe differentplaces wevisit!LoveToby
10.M2U
2.Project-Shangri-laWould youlike thechancetodiscover aplace ofmystery andbeauty inthe south-west of China Ifyouranswer isyes,consider atrip toShangri-la!How toget thereStartinthe city ofDali anddrive northalong theYunnan-Tibet Highwayuntil youreach ZhongdianShangri-la,the capitalof Diqing.Zhongdian is659kilometers awayfrom Kunming,and there areregular flightsbetween thetwo cities.The world-famous ChineseShangri-laThe wordShangri-la firstappeared ina classicnovel byJames Hilton.Today,Shangri-la hasbecomeacommonEnglish wordmeaning heavenon earth.Hilton describeda beautifulkingdom wherethreerivers joinedtogether,steep mountainsreached tothe sky,and fieldsof longgrass coveredthe earth.In thisperfect worldlived people who haddiscovered how to stayyoung forever.Which placecould officiallytake thename ofthis wonderfulland Therewere argumentsoverwhich touristspot wouldwin thename ofShangri-la.Many yearsafter thebook waspublished,somepeople realizedthat theShangri-la ofthe novelwasaperfect matchfor Zhongdianin YunnanProvince,China.In September1997,the governmentof Yunnanprovince announcedthat Zhongdianwas theShangri-la ofHiltons story.What youwill seein Shangri-laThree mountains,Meili,Baimang andHaba,which arecovered withsnow,tower overtheland.Their snowymountaintops forma beautifulpicture thatwill leaveyou ata lossfor wordsBelowthemountains,the sunshinereflects onthe manylakes,making themshine likediamondsagainst therich countryside.Sheep,cattle andhorses wanderonthegreen grass,andthesurroundingforests arehome tomany birdsand animals.In thispeaceful land,people livein perfectharmony withnature,far awayfrom thenoise andworry ofthe outsideworld.Nature hasprovided Shangri-la withendless naturaltreasures,making theland ahappy homeforthe localpeople.What theweather islikeThe weatherchanges soquickly thatpeople sayyou canexperience fourseasons inone day.Thebest timesto visitShangri-la arespring andautumn when the temperatureis atits mildest.
11.M2U
3.Reading-The curseofthemummyHoward Carteris one ofthe most famousexplorers theworld hasever known.He wasbrave andlovedto visit and explorenew places.During hislife,he discoveredmany amazingthings.Howard Carterdid notgo toschool,but learntto drawfrom hisfather,who wasan artist.He wasbrightand curiousabout theworld outsidehis hometown.In1891,attheage of17,he setsail forAlexandria,Egypt.By the1920s,he hadbecome anexplorer,searching forthe tombsoftheEgyptiankings.He foundseveral importantones.Inside the tombs,he discovereda greatfortune injewels andgold,along with the preservedbodies ofdead kings.These preservedbodies areknown asmummies.In1922,Howard Cartermade hismost amazingdiscovery ofall,intheValley ofthe Kings,inEgypt.He hadreceived moneyfrom Lord Carnarvon,a Britishman who was veryinterested inEgypt.Carters teamwasworkingataplace nearthecityof Luxor.There,they cameacross the tomb ofKingTutankhamun.It wasthe mostimportant tombthat had everbeenfound.The tombcontained moretreasurethan anyof ushadeverseen before,aswellasthemummy ofthe king/said Carter.After welookedinto the tomb,we closeditandhid itsentrance.We wanted to studythe tomblater whenwe hadmoretime.Afterwards,all ofits contentswould gointo amuseum/However,not longafter the discovery,peopleinCarters teambegan tofall illand die.Upon theirenteringthe tomb,Carters luckypet bird,which hehad leftin Cairo,was awallowedbyasnake.Then,afew monthsafter Carterhad openedthetomb,LordCarnarvon,whowasalso presentwhenthetomb wasopened,fell illwithafever anddied inEgypt.At themoment ofCarnamons death,the lightswent outinCairo,the capitalof Egypt.Back inEngland,his dogdied atapproximately thesame time.George Gould,a friendof Carnarvons,wenttoEgypt afterhearing ofhis strangedeath.He toovisitedthetomb,only tocatch ahigh feverthe nextday.Twelve hourslater,he wasdead.Carterssecretary,Richard Bethell,died ofheart troublefour monthsafterthetomb wasopened.Arthur Mace,another memberoftheteam,also diedshortly afterthediscovery.Within sevenyears,21peoplewhohad somethingto dowiththeopening ofthetombdied.Howard Carter,however,lived onuntil theage of
65.Some peoplesay thedeaths werejust coincidence.Others believethat they were inconnection witha mummyscurse,asapunishment forthose whoenterthe restingplace ofthe dead.However,still othersbelievethatthere isa scientificexplanation.Inside thetombs,therearemanyviruses.When atomb isopened,fresh airdisturbs theviruses.If breathedin,they canresult inillness orevendeath.Today,when scientistsexamine mummies,they wearspecial clothingfor protection.What iscertain,though,is thatthe curseofthemummy remainsa riddleto thisday.
12.M2U
3.Project-Explorer16October2003What isthemostfun youcan havein21hours and23minutes On15October2003,Yang Liweiansweredthis question.His voyagein spacetook him600,000kilometres inorbit,around theEarth14times,in justover21hours.It madehim Chinasfirst astronautin space.He hadworked towardsthisachievement formany years.Born in1965,Yang hadwantedtofly sincehe wasa youngboy.His friendsand teachersfromSuizhong inthe north-east ofLiaoning Provincehave allsaidthathe lovedscience andtechnology fromayoung age.He alwayshad astrong desireto learnhowtofly.His dreamwas encouragedby hisparentsas wellas hisolder sisterand youngerbrother.In1983,he joinedthe army,and wentto flightschool.He graduatedin1987and becamea pilot.In1998,he appliedtobea memberof Project921,which isnow calledsh拙ouHe was oneofthe only14selected from1,500candidates.The teamspent thenext fiveyears beingtrained.They notonly studiedallthe subjectsrequired tobe anastronaut,but alsolearnt survivalskills andall abouthow spaceshipsandrockets arebuilt.Yang scoredamong thevery topin everythingthe groupstudied.In September2003,only threeout ofthe14candidates werepicked fortheChinesespaceadventure,and Yang wasoneof them.He tookall kindsof teststo provehe wasfit forthis importanttask.Although Yangdid notget thebest scores on everysingle test,itwashis highscoresonthe psychologicalteststhat finallywon himthe statusof Chinasfirst astronaut.Yang wasdescribed byhis superiorsashard-working andalways incontrol ofhimself.Because ofthese qualities,theywereoptimistic hewouldbe successful.In theend,Yangwasindeed asuccess.His namewillgodown inhistory withthose ofYuriGagarin andAlan Shepard.The peopleofChinacan beproud ofYang Liwei,and youngpeople alloverthe worldcan lookup tohim asan exampleofaman whomanaged tolive hisdream.。