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Customs

     It was the small hours of the morning, when we reached London Airport. I had cabled London (England) from Amsterdam (Holland), and there was a hired car to meet me, but there was one more contretemps before I reached the haven of my flat. In all my travels I have never, but for that once, been required by carried by the British Customs to open a single bag or to do more than state that I carried no goods liable to duty. It was, of course, my fault; the extreme fatigue and nervous tension of the journey had destroyed my diplomacy. I was, for whichever reason, so tired that I could hardly stand and to the proffered pro forma and the question, ‘have you read this?’ I replied, with extreme testiness and foolishness, ‘Yes-hundreds of times’.

Adapted from Read for Meaning

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The plane, the pilot and the mechanic.

    Whereas, several test pilots might fly the prototype, each prototype is enrusted to only one mechanic. For him, I’m the pilot who is going to fly “his” plane and furnish him with the proof that the work he has lovingly and conscientiously put it on it all day, and sometimes all night, has not been in vain. The relation between the pilot, the plane and the mechanic are at once very simple – basic, obviously – and very complex when it comes to putting them into words. For the mechanic, the plane is a kind of Sleeping Beauty, and he takes care of her and coddles her while she is asleep. As soon as she wakes up, she passes into the hands of the pilots, but he only knows the plane when it is “alive”, when it is flying and functioning. The moment the plane takes off for a test, the mechanic loses sight of it, but he follows it, he feels it, he is bound to it by a kind of sixth sense, or to put it better, by an invisible umbilical cord.

Adapted from Read for Meaning.

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Asthma from traffic

    Asthma is a serious medical condition because it is lifelong; there is no cure. A study says that pollution from traffic connects to 4 millions new cases of asthma in children each year.

    Researchers studied the pollution and how it affects children’s health in 194 countries and 125 large cities.

    This is not the first study to make this clame, but the study’s main author says that it gives a comprehensive idea of the problem. She says that it tells where pollution “hot spots” are.

Some people think rules for pollution need to change and that we need to have cleaner transportation. The author also said that there are other pollutants in the world causing deseases, such as lung cancer, strokes, heart disease and developmental issues.

http://www.newsin level.com.

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What was lost and what survived devastating Notre Dame fire

David K. Li

    Some of the most prized, centuries-old relics of France and Christianity survived the devastating Notre Dame Cathedral fire that almost wiped out the cherished Paris landmark.

    According to Culture Minister Frank Riester the “most precious treasures” were largely spared. Many of the works will be stored at Paris’ City Hall and the Louvre, where they will be examined, treated for damage and protected.

    Monday’s fire almost destroyed the entire cathedral, wich has stood in Paris and survived nearly 900 years of tumultuous French history.

    So far, authorities have said blaze appears to be an accident, possibly connected to a renovation project carried out by five companies.

    The fire was finally extinguished after nine hours of work.

http://www.nbcnews.com.

Directions: Read the text below and answer questions 33 to 48 according to it.