week 7-himalaya avalanche hikers

Everest snowfall traps dozens of hikers in mountain lodges

Dozens of foreign hikers and Nepali guides returning from a trekking trip to the base camp of Mount Everest have been cut off by heavy snowfall, a police official said on Sunday.

They have been forced to stay in four hotel resorts in the Gokyo area near the world's tallest peak, which has been battered by heavy snowfall following freak rains in the last 24 hours, police officer Chandra Dev Rai said from Salleri, the nearest town.

Gokyo lies in Solukhumbu region where Mount Everest is located and is a popular destination for hikers. Tens of thousands of trekkers and climbers visit the Solukhumbu region in northeast Nepal every year.

"There is chest-deep snow in the area. There is no report of any casualty so far. If the snowfall continues for long the tourists need emergency rescue," Mr Rai told Reuters by phone.

Most mountainous areas in Nepal have experienced snowfall due to rains which are not common during this time of the year.

Weather officials in Kathmandu said the bad weather could continue for a couple of days, worsening the plight of the trapped tourists who could face a food shortage.

D.B. Koirala, chief of the Himalayan Rescue Association Nepal, said he had not received any SOS call from the hikers.

December ends the peak tourist season in South Asia's poorest country, which gets nearly four percent of its gross domestic product from tourism.

Freak snowfall and avalanches triggered by the tail of the Hudhud cyclone in October killed at least 43 foreign and Nepali hikers in the popular Annapurna Circuit, in the west of the country.

An avalanche struck Mount Everest during the peak climbing season in April killing 16 Nepali guides in the deadliest incident on the world's tallest peak, forcing hundreds of foreign climbers to abandon their ascent to the 8,850 metre (29,035 feet) Everest summit.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/mounteverest/11293143/Everest-snowfall-traps-dozens-of-hikers-in-mountain-lodges.html

Structure of the lead:

What: returning from a trekking trip to the base camp of Mount Everest have been cut off by heavy snowfall

Who: Dozens of foreign hikers and Nepali guides

How: a police official said

Why: Mount Everest have been cut off by heavy snowfall

Where: Mount Everest

When: Sunday

Keyword:

1. trekking 艱苦跋涉的

2. snowfall 降雪

3. peak 山頂

4. hiker 登山者

5. plight 困境

6. avalanche 雪崩

7. trigger 引發

8. cyclone 龍捲風

week6-Scotland independence referendum

Sir Tom Hunter: No need for another referendum for 15 years

ONE of Scotland's most successful businessmen, Sir Tom Hunter, has said there should not be another referendum on Scottish independence for ten to 15 years, saying the country is already set to get greater control over its destiny.

The Ayrshire entrepreneur said the Smith Commission on devolution formed after the referendum had suggested a range of additional powers for Scotland. With reforms that were already in train Sir Tom thinks enough changes are in prospect.

Asked if the Smith Commission proposals went far enough, he said: "Yes, I think they're a very good step forward and I think what we need to do is just prove that the Scottish Parliament can take on the next step of devolution. I think we've proven that the Parliament has been a good thing for Scotland, it has taken care of Scotland's interests and I think this is another step forward."

He added: "I think we have got a lot of powers which the parliament's never used, we're going to get more powers under the Scotland Act, I think it's 2016 they come in, so there are more powers to digest and our polling before the referendum actually said that people didn't really know what the powers were, what extra powers we were going to get anyway. So I think we've got to get on with this, what we've got so far.

The Smith Commission has done a good job. There's plenty more to get on with there."

Asked if he was concerned that the prospect of a so-called neverendum could be damaging, he said:

"I think there should be something like when we have a referendum of such importance it shouldn't be able to be brought back say within ten to fifteen years. I think that would be a healthy thing because people would say let's get on with what we've got and if there is an appetite with the Scottish voting public to have another one that's fine but there needs to be a decent period of time before the next one."

Sir Tom has not said how he voted in the referendum.

Resource: http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/scottish-politics/sir-tom-hunter-no-need-for-another-referendum-for-15-years.114739658

Structure of the lead:

Who: ONE of Scotland's most successful businessmen, Sir Tom Hunter

When: not given

What: has said there should not be another referendum on Scottish independence for ten to 15 years

Why: saying the country is already set to get greater control over its destiny.

Where: not given

How: not given

Keywords:

1.      referendum 公投

2.      independence 獨立

3.      destiny 命運

4.      entrepreneur 企業家

5.      parliament 國會

6.      proposals 提議

7.      polling 民調

week5-Ferguson shooting

New Autopsy Report Changes Everything About the Michael Brown Shooting

The county autopsy report on Michael Brown largely corroborates the account of the shooting given by Ferguson, Mo., Police Officer Darren Wilson. Two independent doctors reviewed the report from St. Louis County for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KTVI reported.

According to the report, the first shot fired from Wilson’s gun was at close range and hit Brown’s right thumb, adding weight to Wilson’s testimony that the two struggled for the gun in Wilson’s police cruiser. Previous reports confirmed that Brown’s blood was found on Wilson’s gun and uniform, as well as inside the car.

The wound on Brown’s thumb contained “microscopic matter from the barrel” of the officer’s pistol, according to the report.

Wilson’s other five shots hit Brown from the front, contradicting some witness reports that Brown had been running away from the officer when he was shot. The angle of the wound to Brown’s forehead indicated that he was either falling or lunging forward when the bullet hit him.

Perhaps most importantly, the autopsy report indicated that Brown did not have his hands in the air when Officer Wilson shot him.

In addition, the county toxicology report on Brown was positive for marijuana.

Results on an autopsy performed by federal officials have not been released.

As the information coming out of the grand jury investigation seems increasingly to support Officer Wilson’s version of the events of that day, it remains to be seen how the protesters in Ferguson and St. Louis, many of whom are from elsewhere, will respond to the news.

We predict that they’ll either ignore it or claim that the report is another lie from the “white power establishment,” or words to that effect. Like good liberals, they are not interested in truth, science, evidence, or history — unless it supports their agenda.

Source: http://conservativetribune.com/new-autopsy-michael-brown/

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- The county autopsy report on Michael Brown

WHEN-not given

WHAT- largely corroborates the account of the shooting given by Ferguson, Mo., Police Officer Darren Wilson.

WHY- the shooting given by Ferguson, Mo., Police Officer Darren Wilson WHERE-not given

HOW- Two independent doctors reviewed the report from St. Louis County for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KTVI reported.

Keywords：

   1. autopsy: 驗屍

   2. corroborates:證實

   3. account:描述

   4. thumb:拇指

   5. contradicting:爭議

   6. lunge:衝,撲

   7. toxicology:毒藥學

   8. protester:抗議者