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N o t r e -D a m e tragedy
Easter attacks in Sri Lanka
Wolves return to the
Nowadays, people from many countries Notre-Dame has two huge stone bell Netherlands
visit Paris, France’s capital city. It is a towers. They are on either side of the Massacre centenary in India
popular tourist destination. Most go to building’s main entrance. A tall spire, Summit in Vladivostok
the Île de la Cité. This natural island, in made from wood and lead, rose up from Glossary Crossword and
Wordsearch Puzzle
the River Seine, is in the centre of the city. the centre of the roof. Within a short
There, they visit Notre-Dame (Our Lady). time, the whole spire was ablaze. The
The large Gothic cathedral is a world fa- onlookers gasped as it collapsed. Many
mous building. Together with Paris’s Eif- people cried. Others grouped together Learning
fel Tower, it is a symbol of France. and sang. As the roof continued to burn, English as a
As usual, on 15th April, Notre-Dame’s the bells of Paris’s surrounding churches
doors were closed in the late afternoon. rang out. News channels, from around foreign
Many people were standing and talking the world, broadcast live images of the language?
in the open area outside the building. At burning cathedral.
twenty past six, flames were seen on the Around 400 fire-fighters fought the
cathedral’s roof. They spread quickly. flames. Another 100 worked to save the Newsademic.com
The police and fire-fighters were quick precious objects and artworks kept in
to arrive. Visitors were told to leave Notre-Dame. This was dangerous. As Recommended
the area. They crossed the bridges that the fire-fighters worked inside the build-
connect the island to the river’s oppo- ing, parts of the burning roof, high above reading
site sides. There, thousands of people their heads, began to fall. The roof con- for
watched the whole roof become engulfed tained wood from thousands of oak trees.
in flames. By eleven o’clock at night, most flames EFL and ESL
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 2
had been put out. The wooden roof Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 –
had gone. 1821) was a military and political
Building work on Notre-Dame leader. He ruled France from 1804
began in 1163. Five years ago, to 1814, and again for around
people in France celebrated the ca- three months in 1815. Before tak-
thedral’s 850th anniversary. The ing over as the French leader, Na-
building was not finally completed poleon arranged for the interior
until 1345, or almost 200 years later. of Notre-Dame to be restored. In
Notre-Dame is one of the world’s 1804, he crowned himself em-
largest religious buildings. The ca- peror of France in the cathedral.
thedral is known for its three great Then, the building continued to be
Notre-Dame’s north rose window, it survived the fire.
medieval rose windows. Made of used for religious ceremonies. Yet,
stained glass, they are a circular some people described the cathe- following evening, he spoke on live
shape. These windows were cre- dral as a ‘semi-ruin’. television. The president described
ated in the 1200s. Over time, some Victor Hugo (1802 – 1855) the fire as a tragedy. Notre-Dame,
of the coloured glass has had to be was a famous French novelist. In he said, would be rebuilt and it
replaced. All three survived the fire. 1831, he published a book called would be ‘more beautiful’ than be-
One of the relics kept at the ca- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. fore. Paris is due to host the Olym-
thedral is a crown made of thorns. The hunchback is a deformed man pic Games in 2024. Mr Macron said
Christians believe that Jesus Christ named Quasimodo. He lives in the that he wanted the cathedral to be
is the Son of God. It’s said that this cathedral and works as a bell ringer. fully reconstructed before the games
crown was placed on his head be- In the story, Quasimodo tries to save start. Many people expect the work
fore he was crucified. The cathedral a beautiful young woman called Es- to take far longer.
also has a small piece of wood. This meralda. He hides her in one of the Soon after the fire, some of
is supposed to have been taken from cathedral’s bell towers. Hugo was France’s most wealthy businessmen
the cross on which Jesus died. a great admirer of Gothic buildings agreed to donate large amounts of
The French Revolution began such as Notre-Dame. His book was money. It will be used to pay for the
in 1789. Its leaders confiscated the a big success. It led to a major resto- rebuilding work. Thousands of oth-
cathedral from the Catholic Church. ration project. This was undertaken ers agreed to give small amounts.
Today, the building is still owned between 1844 and 1861. Within a few days, the amount do-
by the state, or French government. In recent years, much of Notre- nated had exceeded €800 million
The revolutionaries damaged the Dame’s original stonework has (£690 million).
cathedral. Some statues were de- started to crumble. This, experts ex- Lord Clark (1903 – 1983) was
stroyed or beheaded and valuable plain, is due to acid rain. Recently, a British art historian, museum di-
items stolen. For a time, the build- another major restoration project be- rector, and broadcaster. In the late
ing was used as a warehouse to gan. Much of the roof was covered 1960s, he produced a famous tel-
store food. in scaffolding. A few days before the evision documentary series. Called
fire, a helicopter airlifted 16 copper ‘Civilisation’, it is about the his-
statues from the roof. They were tory of European art, architecture
taken away for restoration. If this and philosophy. At the beginning
had not been done, the fire would of the first programme, Lord Clark
have destroyed them. An investiga- is standing in front of Notre-Dame.
tion as to how the blaze started has Speaking to the camera he asks
begun. The cause may be connected ‘What is civilisation?’ He then says,
to the current restoration work. ‘I don’t know, I cannot define it.
Emmanuel Macron is the But I think I can recognise it when I
president of France. He visited see it’. Then, turning to face Notre-
Notre-Dame Cathedral showing roof areas
Notre-Dame just before the final Dame, he adds, ‘And I’m looking at
destroyed by fire (Umbricht) flames had been extinguished. The it now’.
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 3
Tre n c h
were at a depth of 8,145 metres depths live in total darkness.
Guam
(26,700 feet). The tadpole-shaped Scientists divide the ocean depths
na
PHILIPPINES ia
fish are a type of snailfish. They are into five layers, or zones. Different M ar
the world’s deepest known fish. types of marine creatures live in each Challenger
Deep
Recently, researchers from China of them. The uppermost layer, or one
caught some Mariana snailfish. closest to the surface, is called the INDONESIA
Their ROV captured them 7,000 me- Epipelagic zone (or sunlight zone). PAPUA/
NEW GUINEA
tres (23,000 feet) below the surface. Down to a depth of 200 metres (660
For the first time, the researchers feet), it is where the most marine ac- AUSTRALIA
have completed a study of the unu- tivity takes place. The deepest ocean
sual creatures’ anatomy and genes. layer is known as the Hadapelagic, tissue’. It is usually found in joints
The deep-sea fish, they say, have or Hadal, zone. The Mariana Trench between bones.
evolved in certain ways. This ex- is within this layer. It is named after The Mariana snailfish’s scien-
plains how they withstand the enor- Hades. In Ancient Greece, he was tific name is Pseudoliparis swirei.
mous pressures at this depth. the god of the dead and king of the The Pseudoliparis part of the name
underworld, or hell. is its genus. Therefore, all deep-sea
There are several deepwater snailfish have this name. The sec-
snailfish species. They have jelly- ond part of the name is the species.
like skin and no scales. The deep- The Mariana snailfish’s ‘swirei’
sea creatures feed on small crus- comes from a British navy officer
taceans and bodies of dead fish, called Herbert Swire.
which sink to the bottom of the Around 150 years ago, a Brit-
sea. The Mariana snailfish caught ish navy ship called HMS Chal-
by the Chinese researchers are lenger sailed around the world.
Mariana snailfish (University of Aberdeen) pink, slimy and about 30 centi- Several scientists were on board.
The Mariana Trench is in the metres (one foot) long. They have The Challenger’s voyage was
western part of the Pacific Ocean. It is small sightless eyes, big heads and the first global marine scientific
close to the island of Guam. The deep- eel-like tails. As they are blind, the expedition. It made a number of
est part is called Challenger Deep. snailfish did not react to the bright discoveries. One was the deepest
Here, the seabed is 11 kilometres (6.8 lights of the researchers’ ROV. part of the Mariana Trench. Chal-
miles) below the surface. This depth The snailfish were dissected, or lenger Deep was named after the
is roughly the same distance beneath cut open. The researchers discov- ship. Swire wrote a book about
sea level as the height at which pas- ered that their skulls contain gaps. the expedition called The Voyage
senger aircraft fly above the ground. These are probably needed to offset of the Challenger.
Mount Everest is the world’s highest the water pressure. If they had a
mountain. If it were put at the bottom complete hard bony, or ‘fused’, skull
of Challenger Deep, the mountain’s like most fish, it would be crushed. Comedian president
top, or summit, would be 1.6 kilome- For the same reason, the snail-
tres (one mile) under water. fishes’ bones are softer. They are Ukraine’s presidential elections are
The pressure at the bottom of made mainly of cartilage. In many held every five years. The most re-
the Mariana Trench is 1,000 times vertebrates (or creatures with back- cent took place on 21st April. The
greater than at the sea’s surface. bones), cartilage is a ‘connecting result surprised people in many other
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 4
countries. Volodymyr Zelensky won They announced that new elections over government buildings in the
easily. Aged 41, he has never been would be arranged for the country’s east of Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers
a politician before. Mr Zelensky is parliament and a new president. were sent to stop them. Ukraine then
best known as a comedian and televi- Leaders of the USAand the EU offered held a presidential election. Petro
sion actor. He stars in a popular tel- to support the interim government. Poroshenko won. He had been part
evision comedy called Servant of the Many Russian-speaking Ukrain- of the Ukrainian government before.
People. The political satire is about a ians were unhappy about these Mr Poroshenko speaks Ukrainian,
schoolteacher who, unexpectedly, is events. Mr Yanukovych was demo- Russian and English.
elected as Ukraine’s president. cratically elected. It was wrong, they As well as a politician, Mr Po-
For many years, Ukraine was argued, to depose an elected leader roshenko is a successful and wealthy
part of the Russian-led Soviet Un- in this way. Vladimir Putin, the pres- businessman. One company he
ion. It became an independent coun- ident of Russia, said that Ukraine’s owns makes sweets and chocolate.
try in 1991. Many ethnic Russians new temporary government was Some Ukrainians jokingly call him
live in the east of the country. Most unlawful. He declared that Russia ‘The Chocolate King’.
of them use Russian and not Ukrain- was prepared to protect all Russian- After he became president, Mr
ian as their first language. speaking people in Ukraine. Poroshenko, with help from Mr Pu-
Problems began in Ukraine at the tin, organised a ceasefire in eastern
end of 2013. Then, Viktor Yanuko- Ukraine. Five years later, it contin-
vych was the country’s president. He ues. However, occasionally, some
came from the Russian-speaking part minor fighting still occurs.
of Ukraine. Mr Yanukovych decided In Ukraine, a person must get
not to sign a trade agreement with over 50% of the votes to win a
the European Union (EU). Mr Yanu- presidential election. If nobody
kovych announced that a trade deal does, a second, or run-off, vote is
would be made with Russia instead. held. The two candidates who got
These decisions led to large demon- most votes in the first round con-
strations in Kiev, the capital city. test the run-off. This is what hap-
Ukraine seemed to be divided. pened in the recent election. The
Roughly, those who lived in the first vote was held on 31st March.
west wanted Ukraine to work close- There were 39 candidates. Mr
ly with the EU. Many Ukrainian Zelensky came top with 30% of the
people in the east thought that it was Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s new president votes. Mr Poroshenko was second
more important to increase trade (Ukrinform TV) with 16%. In the second round, or
with Russia. Most protesters in Kiev Pro-Russian groups in a part of run-off election, Mr Zelensky won
were pro-EU and anti-Russian. Ukraine called Crimea organised a easily with 73%. When a politician
Areas which did not take part referendum. Crimea had been part wins an election by a wide margin,
in Ukraine’s election
of Russia long ago. People could it’s called a ‘landslide’.
RUSSIA vote if they wanted Crimea to belong News reporters from other coun-
Kiev
to Ukraine or to Russia. Over 90% tries found it difficult to explain Mr
chose Russia. In 2014, Mr Putin Zelensky’s landslide victory. Many
UKRAINE
agreed that Russia would annex, or Ukrainians have been disappointed
take over, Crimea. Ukraine’s interim by Mr Poroshenko’s presidency.
government was unable to prevent They complain that pledges Mr Po-
Black Crimea this from happening. The Russian roshenko made before he won five
Sea
takeover angered the leaders of many years ago were not kept. Unemploy-
Due to the demonstrations, Mr other countries such as the USA, the ment in Ukraine remains high. Food
Yanukovych left the country. He fled UK, Germany, and France. and fuel prices have gone up. Many
to Russia. The protesters then set up a After Russia’s annexation of Ukrainians have a poor, or low,
temporary, or interim, government. Crimea, armed groups began to take standard of living. Mr Poroshenko
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 5
Empire was a man called Lord El- of the Elgin Marbles. In the British began to be made from plastic after
gin. He removed most of the Par- Museum, the ‘real’ sculptures are the end of the Second World War
thenon’s remaining marbles. Lord displayed in a long corridor-like in 1945.
Elgin claimed that the Ottoman room. Windowless, it is illuminated In today’s world, many things
authorities gave him permission to with electric lights. Most of the new are made of plastic. It is used for
do this. Some people dispute this. Acropolis Museum’s rooms are numerous types of packaging and
However, many believe that Lord light and spacious. containers. As they are inexpensive,
Elgin wanted to save the marbles During his speech, Mr Pavlo- plastic items are often thrown away
from being stolen or broken up. poulos declared that the Parthe- after use. Plastic is made from oil.
Lord Elgin shipped the sculptures non Marbles should be freed from It is not ‘environmentally friendly’.
back to the UK. Later, the British their ‘murky’ (or dark) prison in Unlike organic material, plastic does
Museum in London, the UK’s capital the British Museum. He asked not break down in the soil and rot.
city, agreed to buy them from Lord British Museum officials to visit If it was not recycled, every plastic
Elgin. Also known as the Elgin Mar- the Acropolis Museum. Then, Mr item ever made still exists.
bles, they were first displayed in the Pavlopoulos added, they would un- Nowadays, about 335 million
British Museum about 200 years ago. derstand why the building was the tonnes of plastic are made every
best place to display the famous year. Around eight million tonnes
sculptures. are ‘dumped’ into the seas and
oceans every 12 months. Plas-
tic makes up at least 10% of all
Airborne plastic waste produced by humans. Much
of this waste is plastic bottles and
The Pyrenees Mountains form a bags. In landfill sites, plastic bags
natural border between France take between 100 and 400 years
and Spain. Few people live on the to degrade.
The Parthenon, in Athens (Martin Nemo) mountain range’s upper slopes
Modern-day Greece became and its higher valleys. French re- Bay of
an independent country in 1832. searchers recently carried out a Biscay FRANCE
Since then, its leaders have fre- ‘plastic pollution’ survey, or study,
quently asked the British Museum in the mountains. They chose a Toulouse
their empire included much of mod- first sultan of Egypt and Syria. His the past, Lebanon was within the
ern-day Turkey, the Middle East and Muslim forces defeated the Cru- Roman Empire. The scientists say
parts of Central Asia. sader army. Saladin recaptured Je- that the DNA of people who lived
The Crusades were a series of rusalem in 1187. Another Crusade in this part of the world in Roman
European military expeditions to was then organised. Its leader was times is very similar to the DNA of
the Holy Land. Their purpose was to England’s king, Richard the First today’s Lebanese. Therefore, Euro-
‘recapture’ Jerusalem and the Holy (1157 – 1199). Even though he led pean (or Crusader) ‘genetic mark-
Land from the Seljuk Turks. There his army to several victories, Rich- ers’ are not present in Lebanon’s
were several Crusades, or expedi- ard failed to recapture Jerusalem. modern day population.
tions. The first began in 1095. The Later Crusades were organised, yet
last took place about 200 years later. none were successful. Some failed
Leaders of wealthy Christian to get to the Holy Land. During Kafka papers
land-owning families in Europe the Crusades, many terrible things
organised the Crusades. Most of happened. Both sides often mur- Literary people believe that Franz
these families lived in France, Eng- dered the prisoners that they took. Kafka is one of the most influential
land and what are now Germany, Thousands of men who joined authors of the 20th century. A court
the Netherlands and Italy. Then, all the Crusades died of ill health in Switzerland recently made a rul-
Christians were Roman Catholics. and disease. ing about some of his handwritten
The pope, or the leader of the Ro- The Crusaders ruled the Holy papers, notes, diaries, and manu-
man Catholics, and other church Land for 88 years. They built large scripts. For many years, they have
leaders encouraged men to become European-style stone castles at been locked in a Swiss bank vault.
Crusaders. Anyone, they claimed, strategic sites. Most are now in ru- The court ordered that the vault be
who joined a Crusade would go to ins, but several have been restored. opened and the ‘Kafka papers’ sent
heaven when they died. The best known is called Krak des to Israel’s national library.
The First Crusade was success- Chevaliers. In present-day Syria, Franz Kafka was born in 1883.
ful. This Crusader army captured it is close to the country’s border His family lived in Prague. Then,
Jerusalem in 1099. During the fight- with Lebanon. The Crusader castle this city was within the Austro-Hun-
ing, Jews living in the city fought at Sidon was built on a small island garian Empire. Today, it is the Czech
alongside the Muslims against the near the coast. Known as the Sidon Republic’s capital. Kafka’s family
Christian invaders. After captur- Sea Castle, it was built in 1228. were Jewish. His parents probably
ing Jerusalem, the Crusade’s lead- The DNA from the nine Crusad- spoke Yiddish. At that time, the
ers set up four Holy Land ‘states’. ers’ skeletons show that only three many Jewish families who lived in
One was called the Kingdom came from Europe. Four others Eastern Europe spoke this language.
of Jerusalem. were from the Near East (or Turkey, However, as a young student, Kafka
Saladin (1137 – 1193) was a the Middle East and Egypt). The was encouraged to speak and write
famous military leader and the other two had mixed ancestors. In in German. Then, in this part of the
world, German speakers were likely
to get better-paid work and improve
their social standing.
Kafka studied law at university. At
the same time, he began to write short
stories. Kafka became friends with
other lawyers and writers, includ-
ing a man named Max Brod. After
finishing his studies, Kafka worked
for several insurance companies. He
spent much of his free time writing.
Kafka suffered from poor health.
Krak des Chevaliers, Crusader castle, in Syria (Ergo) He died from TB (or tuberculosis)
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 9
it was sold. Local people called the Titan’s ‘phantom’ lakes studying the information collected
fish a ‘raja laut’ (king of the sea). during Cassini’s Titan fly-bys.
The scientist returned to the is- Cassini was launched 22 years Recently, they reported that the
land a few months later. He spoke ago. At first, the spacecraft was data recorded several phantom,
with local fishermen. The scientist called Cassini-Huygens. NASA or ghost, lakes. On one Titan fly-
asked them to tell him when they and the European Space Agency by in 2006, the three lakes were
caught another ‘king of the sea’. (ESA) organised the mission. Cas- there. Yet, seven years later, on
One fisherman contacted him the sini-Huygens was named after two another fly past, they had gone.
following year. The scientist re- astronomers. Both studied the stars Titan is the largest of Saturn’s
turned to the island to collect the and planets around 320 years ago. 62 moons. It is the second big-
specimen. It was 1.2 metres (four Cassini was French. Huygens came gest moon in the Solar System.
feet) long. Soon afterwards, tests from the Netherlands. He discov- (The largest is Ganymede, one
confirmed that it was a second coe- ered Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, or of Jupiter’s many natural satel-
lacanth species. natural satellite. lites.) Titan is about one and a
Not much is known about these In 2005, the part of the space- half times the size of the Earth’s
rare fish. During the day, they seem craft called Huygens landed on Moon. In Ancient Greek mythol-
to prefer to rest in underwater caves. Titan. Cassini continued to or- ogy, the Titans were gods, or
At night, the fish swim to shallower bit Saturn for 20 years. It flew deities. They were giants with
coastal waters. There, they feed past Titan several times. During incredible strength.
on smaller fish as well as squid. In this time, Cassini collected large
1975, it was discovered that, like amounts of data, or information,
sharks, coelacanths give birth to live about Saturn, its famous rings
young. This is unusual for fish. Due and Titan. The spacecraft ran out
to its hinged skull, the coelacanth’s of fuel two years ago. NASA sci-
snout can swing upwards. This entists steered it towards Saturn.
means that the fish can take a much After flying through a gap in the
wider-than-expected bite. planet’s rings, Cassini vaporised
Coelacanths have an oil-filled in Saturn’s upper atmosphere.
tube instead of a backbone. Scien- As Cassini gathered so much
tists call these tubes notochords. The data, space scientists are still re-
notochord is attached to the base of searching it. Some who work at
False colour image of Titan, recorded by the
the brain. In most other vertebrates an American university have been Cassini spacecraft (NASA)
(or creatures with a backbone),
an embryo has a notochord. Yet,
bones, or vertebrae, replace it, as the
embryo develops.
The British and Australian re-
searchers discovered that, as the
coelacanth grows, its notochord
expands. It eventually becomes far
bigger than the fish’s brain. As they
evolved over hundreds of thousands
of years, the hinge in other fish
species’ brain cavities disappeared.
However, the coelacanth never
‘lost’ its notochord. Its size, the
researchers explain, has prevented
the fish’s brain cavity from ever
becoming a sold entity, or unit. False-colour composite image of some of Titan’s smaller north polar region methane lakes (NASA)
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 13
The Earth and Titan have some clouds. The water then falls again. seeped into the ground. Areas
similarities. They are the only two On Titan, methane follows a simi- around the lakes look similar to
bodies in the Solar System that lar process. The moon’s thick hazy the karst, or limestone, landscapes
have liquids on the surface. Titan atmosphere is mostly nitrogen. Its found on the Earth. Limestone is
has lakes and seas. On the Earth clouds are mainly made of methane a type of rock that is soluble in
the liquid is water. Titan’s lakes and and ethane. water. Karst regions usually have
seas are two liquid hydrocarbons: Most of Titan’s lakes are in the many aand sinkholes. These fea-
methane and ethane. On the Earth, moon’s north polar region. These tures are created, over millions
they are gases, which can catch fire lakes contain liquid methane. of years, by water dissolving
easily. Methane and ethane are liq- While three of the northern lakes the limestone.
uids on Titan because it is so cold. disappeared between Cassini’s fly- No surface channels connecting
The moon’s surface temperature is bys, many others did not. The sci- the lakes can be seen on Titan.
around -180ºC (-292ºF). Water also entists suspect that the phantom The scientists theorise that karst-
exists on Titan, but it is deep frozen lakes were very shallow. The oth- like underground rivers may con-
and hard as rock. ers are far deeper. The two fly-bys nect them. If so, this area of Titan
Like the Earth’s ‘water cycle’ took place at different times of Ti- is also likely to have many caves.
Titan has a ‘methane cycle’. On tan’s year. The one in 2006 was in The scientists do not know if the
the Earth, water falls as rain. The the middle of Titan’s winter. The phantom lakes will reappear. The
rain seeps into the ground and col- flypast seven years later, occurred only way to find out would be to or-
lects in ponds and lakes. It flows during the moon’s spring. ganise another space mission. This
in streams and rivers to the seas The scientists say that, as winter would include a Titan orbiter. These
and oceans. The Sun’s heat evapo- became spring, the shallow lakes spacecraft, which continually circle
rates some of the water. In the at- may have evaporated. Another pos- a planet or moon, make many repeat
mosphere, water vapour becomes sibility is that their liquid methane observations.
THE NETHERLANDS
CZECH REPUBLIC
Alaska
RUSSIA
SWITZERLAND
CANADA UK
UKRAINE
FRANCE NORTH
ITALY KOREA
USA TURKEY
CE LEBANON JAPAN
E
G RE ISRAEL
INDIA
VIETNAM
Guam
GUATEMALA
PHILIPPINES
SRI
LANKA
INDONESIA
This map shows countries to which news stories refer in this issue. Visit www.newsademic.com for more detailed world maps.
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 14
around 1,700 years ago. This city, George was a saint. have Saint George as their patron
which is now in Israel, is called Lod. In 1096, Crusaders from Eu- saint. They include: Bulgaria, Por-
Saint George’s father was a Roman rope arrived in Lydda. At that time, tugal, Georgia, Malta, Ethiopia,
army official. He was a Greek Chris- Muslim leaders controlled the city Serbia, and Lithuania. St George’s
tian from an area, or region, called of Jerusalem and the surrounding Day is celebrated in many other
Cappadocia. This part of the world area. This was known as the Holy places. Canada, Genoa and Venice,
is in modern-day Turkey. Saint Land. Wealthy Christian families in Italy, Moscow, the capital of
George’s mother was a Palestinian in Europe decided to work together Russia, Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil,
Christian. As a young man, Saint to capture the Holy Land. When the Catalonia, a region of Spain, and
George became an officer in the Ro- Crusaders returned home, they took Beirut, Lebanon’s capital city, are
man army. Then, Diocletian was the stories about Saint George back all examples.
Roman emperor. Saint George was with them. The UK is made up of England,
one of his many guards. Saint George is probably best Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ire-
Diocletian worshipped the Ro- known for killing a dragon. The land. Each has its own patron saint
man gods. One day, the emperor Crusaders may have invented this and flag. In 1327, the then king of
arranged for all Christian soldiers legend. In the story, a dragon stops England selected Saint George as his
in the Roman army to be arrested. people taking water from a spring. country’s patron saint. Saint George
Some were told to make a sac- To get the water, they must give the is associated with a red cross on a
rifice to the Roman gods. Saint dragon something to eat. After run- white background. Called the Cross
George refused. He declared that he ning out of sheep, young women, of Saint George, it is the English
would always follow his Christian or maidens, are given to the dragon. flag.
faith. Diocletian then ordered Saint Lots are drawn to choose which
George’s execution. Before he died, maiden is to be next. One day, a
young princess is selected. As she Nuclear fuel removal
walks towards the dragon, Saint
George appears. Protecting himself Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO)
with the sign of the cross, Saint generates and distributes electricity
George kills, or slays, the dragon. for a large area of Japan. On 15th
Everyone in the city then decides April, officials from the company
to become Christians. The story announced that they had begun re-
has a ‘hidden’ meaning. The dragon moving radioactive fuel rods from
represents wickedness, or evil. The a reactor. It is one of six nuclear
princess is God’s holy truth, or the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi
Christian faith. power plant.
A patron saint is one chosen In 2011, there was a powerful un-
to represent a particular group of dersea earthquake off Japan’s north
The Cross of Saint George, or the English flag people or a nation. Many countries east coast. Earthquakes around the
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 15
world were first measured and re- kept cool. The tsunami knocked TEPCO has just begun the pro-
corded about 100 years ago. The one out the electric pumps. Three of cess of moving over 550 fuel rods
close to Japan’s shoreline was mag- the power plant’s reactors over- from a pool in the damaged reactor
nitude 9. It was the world’s fourth heated. An explosion occurred in to a pool in an undamaged one. The
most powerful earthquake and the one of them. This released radio- start of this operation has been de-
biggest ever recorded around Japan. activity into the air. layed by several years. In these types
Its up-and-down and side-to-side More than 470,000 people living of reactors, nuclear fuel rods are
movement damaged or destroyed within 20 kilometres (12 miles) of kept submerged in pools, or tanks,
buildings, roads and bridges. the power plant had to be evacuated. of water. They heat the water, which
However, the tsunami, or giant Due to the radioactivity, it is too dan- creates steam, which turns a turbine,
wave, the earthquake ‘triggered’ gerous to enter the damaged reactor which makes electricity. The water
caused the greatest destruction. buildings. TEPCO has been using also prevents radiation leaks.
More than 18,000 people died in specially built robots. Controlled
the disaster. Most deaths were by remotely, they have filmed inside the
drowning. The tsunami obliterated reactors. The robots have also moved
the coastal towns and villages that debris that the explosion created.
were in its path. The Fukushima radiation leak
was history’s second worst nuclear
disaster. Chernobyl was the worst.
This nuclear plant is in Ukraine. In
1986, one of its reactors exploded.
At that time, Ukraine was part of
the Russian-led Soviet Union. After
the Chernobyl reactor explosion,
350,000 people had to be moved Inspectors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Plant in 2014 (IAEA)
from the surrounding area. They
have never returned. The pool in the damaged reactor
Soon after the Chernobyl ex- is not safe. This is why these fuel
plosion, helicopters dropped sand rods must be moved. If another pow-
Aerial view of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
before the earthquake and tsunami (Ministry of and lead onto the damaged re- erful earthquake were to happen, the
Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) actor. It was quickly covered, water might drain away. This would
Nowadays, nuclear power sta- or entombed, in thick concrete. be very dangerous. Specially trained
tions generate electricity in many Radioactivity still leaks from the workers have used robots to con-
countries. Power plants that burn reactor. Today, there is a 30-kilo- struct a crane inside the damaged
fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) release metre (19-mile) exclusion area, reactor. It is operated from a control
additional carbon dioxide into the or ‘no-go’ zone, around the dam- room about 500 metres (0.3 miles)
atmosphere. Nuclear power plants aged power plant. A huge thick away. The crane will place the fuel
do not do this. However, over time, steel shield has been constructed. rods, one at a time, inside a protec-
they do accumulate nuclear waste. It completely covers the damaged tive container. This operation has to
This can be difficult and expensive reactor. This shield is expected to be done under water.
to store. stop radiation leaking from the The removal of all the fuel rods
The Fukushima Daiichi power site for the next 100 years. from this reactor is expected to take
plant opened in 1971. Built next People exposed to large two years. Once finished, work will
to the shore, it used seawater to amounts of radiation die. Lesser start on moving another 1,000 fuel
keep its nuclear fuel cool. As soon amounts cause cancers and other rods from the other two (less) dam-
as the 2011 earthquake struck, the serious long-term health problems. aged reactors. The complex and
power plant’s nuclear reactors Unlike Chernobyl, nobody died as dangerous decommissioning pro-
were automatically shut down. a direct result of the Fukushima cess, or clean-up operation, will
Yet, their fuel rods still had to be radiation leak. take many years to complete.
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 16
the boulders’ shape, the bodies look the period between 700 and 1100 is lodestone on a piece of light wood,
very fat. The sculptures are known often called the Viking Age. Vikings which floated on water. It always
as ‘heads and potbellies’. The big- were also known as Norsemen, or pointed to the north. Europeans who
gest ones are around two metres (6.7 ‘people from the north’. visited China around 700 years ago
feet) tall. The people who carved the Scandinavia has large amounts of brought the magnetic compass back
boulders are known as the Monte magnetite. The Vikings were using with them. Soon, all ships’ captains
Alto Culture. a compass-like device at least 1,000 from European countries were us-
Not much is known about the years ago. A small piece of lode- ing a type of lodestone compass.
Monte Alto people. It’s thought that stone in the device always pointed A British scientist called Wil-
the heads and potbellies were made to the north. This helped the Vikings liam Gilbert (1544 – 1603) was the
at least 2,000 years ago. Therefore, to navigate their ships over the open first person to make a magnet. He
the Monte Alto Culture pre-dated oceans to distant lands. The Vikings discovered that iron magnets lose
other well-known Central American realised that their compass gave their ‘magnetic powers’ if heated.
civilisations such as the Olmecs, them an advantage over their rivals. Gilbert also realised that the Earth
Maya and Aztecs. Therefore, they kept their lodestone was one huge magnet. Hans Chris-
Researchers from an American devices secret. tian Oersted (1777 – 1851) was a
university have recently completed The Chinese may have used scientist from Denmark. Two hun-
a study of the Monte Alto sculptures. magnetite to create a compass dred years after Gilbert, he discov-
The boulders from which they were several hundred years before the ered the relationship between elec-
made contain a lot of iron. Surpris- Vikings. They placed a splinter of tricity and magnetism.
ingly, the researchers confirmed that The American university re-
the statues’ cheeks, foreheads and searchers used hand-held sensors to
navels are magnetised. They have a detect the magnetism in the heads
magnetic attraction. The researchers and potbellies. They believe that
are sure that this is not a coincidence. lightning strikes created the mag-
If not, the Monte Alto people must netism in the rocks. Somehow, the
have been aware of magnetism. Monte Alto people were able to
In ancient times, magnets were detect it. They cut out the boulders
believed to have special powers. from the rock so that it included the
There is a legend about a shepherd areas with magnetic power.
boy in Ancient Greece. It says that The designs were carefully
he discovered ‘natural magnetism’ planned. The boulders were carved
around 4,000 years ago. The shep- so that the magnetic areas were
herd’s name was Magnes. In the sto- beneath the cheeks, foreheads or
ry, he walks across a rock. The shep- navels. Why, how and for what pur-
herd was surprised to discover that pose the Monte Alto Culture did this
One of the stone heads from Monte Alto, in
nails in his shoes and the metal tip of Guatemala (Roger Fu) is not known.
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 17
an important industry in Sri Lanka. Later, government officials con- in another country. Local news re-
International companies have been firmed that an attack on a fourth ports claimed that India had sent a
building new hotels and properties. hotel had been prevented. Over 250 warning about a possible attack to
Christians believe that Jesus people died in the bomb attacks. senior security officers in Sri Lanka.
Christ is the Son of God. He proba- Another 500 were injured. Around It was received two weeks before
bly lived in what are now Israel and 45 of those killed came from other the bombings. The security officers
the West Bank about 2,000 years countries. The police quickly arrest- chose to ignore it.
ago. In the Christian story, Jesus ed 60 people. A night-time curfew
was crucified or killed for his be- was introduced and social media
liefs. Christian texts say that, three and messaging services shut down. Wolves return
days later, he was resurrected and In the days that followed, there were
went to heaven. a few smaller explosions in other A long time ago, wolves were com-
In the Christian tradition, the parts of Colombo. mon in many parts of the world.
day on which Jesus was crucified A few days after the attacks, Now, these animals are mainly
is known as Good Friday. He then officials confirmed that all the found in Russia, Canada and Alaska,
ascended into heaven on Easter Day, suicide bombers came from Sri a part of the USA. Over 100 years
or the following Sunday. This is an Lanka. No militant group claimed ago, in most of Europe, the animals
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 19
were hunted until no more existed. dominant, male and female pair livestock, farmers may need to use
Yet, in recent times, wolf numbers leads the pack. These two wolves electric fences and guard dogs. This
have been growing in several Eu- normally mate for life. is what happens in France. There,
ropean countries. For example, The animals are fast runners and if a farmer takes these precautions,
the animals reappeared in France excellent hunters. When on its own, the government will pay compensa-
in 1992. These wolves crossed the a wolf will catch small animals tion for any livestock lost to wolf
Italian-French border. such as squirrels and hares. When attacks. France’s wolf population
Wildlife officials have been hunting in packs, wolves will attack is now about 360. There, two years
tracking several wolves in a nature larger animals such as bison, moose ago, wolves were blamed for the
reserve, in the Netherlands. The ani- or deer. Most wolves live in remote deaths of 12,000 farm animals.
mals crossed the border that it shares areas. If they cannot find enough The wildlife officials in the
with Germany. At first, the wolves food in the wild, the animals move Netherlands think that a resident
did not stay for long. They returned to places where there are villages wolf pack in the nature reserve
to the German side. At least 60 wolf or small groups of houses. Then, would be helpful. Currently, no
packs are now living in Germany. they will kill farm animals, such as natural predators mean there are
The wildlife officials have been cows, sheep and horses. They rarely too many deer and wild boar. Every
monitoring two females in the Neth- attack humans. so often, these animals have to be
erlands. Both have stayed in the na- culled. The wolves, the officials
ture reserve for six months. (Female say, would naturally control these
wolves are called she-wolves.) animals’ populations.
The officials know that several
male wolves have visited the re-
serve. They are sure that the she- Vladivostok summit
wolves will stay in the area to have
their pups, or babies. This means Vladivostok is the largest city in
that the Netherlands now has a Russia’s far east. The Trans-Siberian
(small) ‘resident’ wolf population. Railway connects Moscow, or the
These animals last lived in the coun- country’s capital, to Vladivostok.
try about 140 years ago. Around 9,300 kilometres (5,780
Wolves are members of a biologi- miles) in length, it is the world’s
cal family called canids (or canidae). longest railway. Vladivostok is
Other family members include: fox- Eurasian wolf (Katerina Hlavata) close to Russia’s border with both
es, coyotes, jackals, and dogs. These When a wolf pack kills a large China and North Korea.
animals are carnivores, or meat-eat- animal, the alpha pair always eats Kim Jong-un is the leader of
ers. Throughout the world, there are first. As hunts are not always suc- North Korea. On 24th April, he trav-
many wolf subspecies. Those found cessful, wolves will eat up to one- elled in his own armoured train from
in Europe are known as Eurasian, fifth of their body weight at one Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital
or common, wolves. They have time. This ‘overeating’ makes up city, to Vladivostok. This distance is
grey-brown fur. An adult Eurasian for the days when the animals roughly 650 kilometres (500 miles).
wolf weighs about 40 kilograms (88 have no food. Wolves are known The following day, Mr Kim, the
pounds). for the howling noises they make. Russian president, Vladimir Putin,
Wolves are the ancestors of all They do this to assemble the pack, and their advisers met for a series of
dogs. Ancient humans are believed warn of danger and communicate talks, or daylong summit. The two
to have started training ‘wolf-dogs’ over long distances. leaders had never met before.
over 10,000 years ago. Wolves are Not everyone in the Nether- North Korea is a secretive and
social animals. They live in packs, lands is happy about the wolves’ underdeveloped country. However,
or groups. Each pack usually has return. Some farmers have already over the last ten years, it has de-
between five and 12 animals. Some complained that wolves are killing signed, built and tested a nuclear
have as many as 36. An alpha, or some of their sheep. To protect their weapon. North Korea has also been
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 20
vigil in the garden. The event was retire from the army. Most people
organised to commemorate a massa- in Britain blamed him for what
cre that took place in the Jallianwala had happened.
Bagh on 13th April 1919, or 100 After the massacre, the independ-
years ago. ence movement became larger. In-
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh dia became a self-governing nation
were once all part of a large British in 1947. It split into two independ-
colony. It was known as ‘India’. The ent countries: India and Pakistan.
British ruled this part of the world The British government has never
for more than 200 years. During officially apologised for what hap-
this time, they created a large army. pened in Amritsar, in 1919. In 1997,
Known as ‘the Indian Army’, its Queen Elizabeth the Second visited
soldiers were local men. Most of the the Jallianwala Bagh. She placed a
officers were British. Many Indian wreath at the memorial in the centre
Army regiments fought for the Brit- Memorial in the Jallianwala Bagh, in Amritsar of the park.
ish in other parts of the world during widely circulated to areas outside Theresa May is the prime minis-
the First World War (1914 – 1918). the city. On 13th April, a crowd ter of the UK. A few days after the
Around the time of the First of about 10,000 people gathered in centenary, she spoke in the coun-
World War, an independence move- Jallianwala Bagh. The men, women try’s parliament about the massacre.
ment in India began. People who and children were a mix of Hindus, Mrs May said that ‘we deeply regret
supported the movement wanted Muslims and Sikhs. Many Sikhs what happened and the suffering it
the British to leave. Mahatma Gan- had recently been to their temple in caused’. The UK’s ambassador to
dhi (1869 – 1948) was one of the Amritsar. Others had come to the India is known as the high com-
movement’s best-known leaders. city from the surrounding area for missioner. He visited the Jallian-
Amritsar is in an area of India and a local festival. wala Bagh on the 100th anniversary
Pakistan that is called Punjab. High walls and buildings en- of the massacre. In the memorial
In 1919, Europeans living in closed the public gardens. There guestbook, he described the event
Punjab worried about local British were only five narrow entrances or as ‘shameful’.
leaders being overthrown. Gandhi exits. Dyer ordered some of his sol- Nowadays, many Sikhs live in
was in favour of non-violent pro- diers to block the exits. He then en- the UK. To mark the 100th an-
tests. At the end of March, he or- tered the Jallianwala Bagh with 90 niversary of the massacre, one
ganised a nationwide strike. People Indian Army soldiers. Dyer ordered British Sikh charity leader planted
were encouraged not to go to work. the soldiers to open fire. Unable to 1,650 trees. One for each bullet
At this time, the British governor escape, many people were shot dead fired. The young trees were planted
in Punjab decided to deport two or wounded. This incident became together. The woodland memorial
people. He believed that they were known as the Jallianwala Bagh, or has been named the ‘Jallianwala
‘troublemakers’. Both men were Amritsar, massacre. Grove’.
arrested. Afterwards, some soldiers When they heard about what
fired into a crowd. Rioters murdered happened, most government minis-
three people who worked for British ters in Britain were very angry. An Newsademic.com
banks. They also set fire to several investigation was organised. The Editor: Rebecca Watson
government buildings in Amritsar. British claimed that around 390 Newsademic is published
Brigadier General Reginald died and another 200 were badly every other week, or fortnightly,
Dyer was a British Indian Army wounded. This number is disputed. throughout the year.
officer. The governor of Punjab Later, an Indian investigation stat- For further details and
told Dyer to take a military force to ed that at least 1,000 people were subscription prices visit
Amritsar. There, Dyer announced killed. It is known that the soldiers www.newsademic.com
a ban on all meetings, or gather- fired 1,650 bullets. After the in- © 2018 Newsademic
ings. However, this order was not vestigation, Dyer was ordered to
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 22
Glossary Puzzle
words highlighted and you need 20 of them to complete the
crossword. k Once you have solved the crossword go to
the word search on the next page c
1 2 3
4 5
7 8 9 10
11
12 13
14 15
16
17
18
19
20
Across Down
1 Noun A person who is in charge of a museum or collection 2 None A renewed interest in something from the past
11 Noun Removal of all dangerous substances 3 Noun Plural Promises that something will happen or be
12 Verb Collect over a period of time done
13 Noun A regulation that requires people to remain indoors 4 Noun Plural Journeys to holy places
at certain times, typically at night 5 Verb To kill an animal or person as an offering to a god
15 Adjective Not legally recognised, or no longer current or or gods
useful 6 Adjective Reduced to nothingness
16 Adjective Dreamlike, using images from the sub conscious 7 Noun A system by which an organisation is run where
17 Adjective Describes gaining an advantage by military or people can do their job only by following very strict
political plans complex rules and regulations
18 Noun The science of the structure of living things’ bodies 8 Noun A non-fiction film, showing an aspect of real life
19 Adjective Name given to European history from about 9 Noun Plural Old documents, papers or books, usually
AD600 to 1500 written by hand
20 Noun An arrangement of flowers and leaves in a circular 10 Noun Something, usually money, given to make up for
shape, often used as a sign of respect and remembrance loss, suffering, or injury
for people who have died 14 Adjective Unspoiled or as new
25th April 2019 Newsademic.com™ – British English edition page 23
Instructions:
Issue 352 j Find 19 of the 20 crossword answers in the word
search. Words can go vertically, horizontally, diagonally
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