Vocabulary

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Think Aloud

Think Aloud

P06-07

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Worksheets in Teacher’s Corner

Audioof news stories

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A DEAF-AND-MUTE Indian girl who strayed across the border into Paki-stan 12 years ago was reunited with

her family.

The girl was 11-years-old when she was found by Pakistan border troops, alone and weeping, near the border. It was not known how she got there.

Unable to explain where she had come

from, she was presumed to be Pakistani and sent to an orphanage where she was given the name Geeta. Earlier in 2015, Indian and Pakistani offi cials realised that Geeta was Indian, though details about how they made that discovery have not been an-nounced.

Geeta, now 23, fl ew home to a warm and emotional welcome in late October.

invade (v) 入侵macaque (n) 獼猴、恆河猴

baton (n) 警棍deaf-and-mute (adj) 聾啞的

presume (v) 假定、當作homicide (n) 兇殺案

Guns are easily available in the US and it has been blamed for many violent crimes. Do you think ordinary citizens

should be allowed to own and carry guns?

Do you think the WHO’s warning about processed meat is ‘exaggerated’?

HOMICIDES are going up in cit-ies across the United States and the police do not know why.

Washington DC, which recorded 88 homicides in 2012, already has 128 this year. Chicago police counted 385 kill-ings as of 18 October, up from 323 on the same date last year. Police in New Orleans say they have seen an increase from 71 in the fi rst two quarters of 2014 to 92 in the fi rst quarters of this year.

There are very little in common among these cities and police are baf-fl ed.

FBI Director James Comey called the spike in homicides “very disturbing”.

He said, “It’s happening all over the country, and it’s happening all in the last 10 months. And so a lot of us in law enforcement are talking and trying to understand what is happening in this country.”

There does not appear to be a single explanation for the problem. It is not clear whether this year’s numbers are an aberration or the start of a worri-some trend.

Some blame easier access to drugs

and guns and have suggested that residents are suddenly more willing to resolve petty disputes with deadly vio-lence.

CHINA’s meat processors are an-gry at a report from a WHO (世界衛生組織) research institute

which said bacon, sausages and other

processed meats are carcinogenic.

Liu Jintao (劉金濤), vice market-ing manager of Shuanghui (雙匯集團), China’s largest pork producer, said the IARC report was “deeply regrettable”.

“The report, though claiming to be published for human health, is in fact inhumane,” he said.

He said air, water and meat are es-sential for humans and their side effects should not be exaggerated.

“Meat processing technology is part of human civilisation and it shall not be

destroyed by being labelled ‘carcino-genic’,” he said.

The report, though opposed by meat traders, has caused public con-cern.

The Jinhua Ham Industry Associa-tion (金華火腿行業協會) said no orders have been called off but many custom-ers called to inquire about meat safety. Jinhua City (金華市) in east China’s Zhejiang Province (浙江省), dubbed the hometown of Chinese ham, has a histo-ry of producing ham for more than 2,000 years.

Invaders monkey around at primary school

被猴子「入侵」的是位於慈雲山的中華基督教會基慈小學，為免學生受襲，校方通知學生留在課室內並報警求助。警員到場後曾試圖用警棍和盾牌驅趕猴子但不成功，於是聯絡漁護署派人協助。數名漁護署人員用香蕉、花生等作餌，終捕獲一隻雌猴，其他猴子見同伴「出事」立即奔逃。事件擾攘兩個多小時。

WHO cancer warning angers China meat processors

Homicide increase in US cities baffl es police

Woman back in India 12 years after straying into Pakistan

Geeta, waves to the crowd as she returns to India after 12 years of being stuck in Pakistan. (Reuters)

aberration (n) 反常carcinogenic (adj) 致癌

2 November 2015Monday

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The WHO announced that processed meats like hot dogs and bacon could lead to cancer, angering processed meat producers in China.

The rise in homicides in a number of US cities puzzles and alarms the police there. (Reuters)

A PRIMARY school in Kowloon was invaded by a large group of macaques.

It took police and Agriculture, Fisher-ies and Conservation Department (漁農自然護理署) staff two hours to catch one of the monkeys to spark an immediate retreat of the rest.

More than 10 monkeys were fi rst spotted in the playground of CCC Kei Tsz Primary School (中華基督教會基慈小學) in Tsz Wan Shan (慈雲山) at about 11 am.

Police were called and students were warned not to come out. Offi cers tried using batons and shields to scare them away but failed. More mon-keys poured in. A dozen took over the playground while about 30 others sat or played on fences around the school.

As the situation was threatening to get out of hand, police called in AFCD staff.

They used bananas, apples and peanuts tied to ropes that were linked to cages, but it took some time before one was eventually caught.

Another monkey, likely the alpha male, staged a res-cue but could not open the cage. That was the cue for the others to fl ee.

An AFCD spokeswoman said the captured monkey was an adult female measuring 55 centimetres in height. It is a member of the macaque family, one of the most com-monly found monkey species in Hong Kong.

The captured monkey will be checked and returned to the wild if no problem is found.

Police and Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department staff chase away the macaques that invaded a primary school in Tsz Wan Shan. (Sing Tao Daily)

(AP, 26 October, 2015)

(AP, 27 October, 2015)

(The Standard, 27 October, 2015)

(AP, 27 October, 2015)