Chris Jones recently completed a very unusual journey. Our reporter Mary Owen met him at his home in the south of London and be told her all about the trip.

Reporter: What gave you the idea to make a trip around India on an elephant, Chris?

Chris: Well, it all started the idea two years ago when I was planning a trip to India. I visited a photo exhibition of elephants and I realized that the only enjoyable way to make a trip around India was on an elephant.

Reporter: What did you do next?

Chris: I flew to New Delhi and started looking for an elephant, I needed an elephant trained to carry people. I didn’t know anything about elephants, so I asked an expert(专家) for help. He taught me how to ride an elephant. He also helped me find an elephant.

Reporter: How long did it take to find a suitable elephant?

Chris: Not too long. I bought a female elephant called Tara for about 6, 000 dollars.

Reporter: Can you tell me about the journey?

Chris: Tara and I set off from New Delhi a week later. We were going to Sonepur in northern India. There is a big elephant market there and I could sell Tara easily. And what a ride! Elephants can travel at about 6 miles an hour and Sonepur is more than 1, 200 km away. It took us 64 days to complete the journey.

Reporter: Did you have any problems on your journey?

Chris: Yes, a few. But nothing serious. On the third day, Tara hurt her foot. Btu that got better quickly. Also, there was a lot of heavy rain during the first week and we got very wet!

Reporter: What happened when you reached Sonepur?

Chris: My plan was to sell Tara. But I was very fond of her. I couldn’t take her back to Britain and I didn’t want to sell her at the market. I happened to meet some people who wanted an elephant for their national park in southern India. I knew that Tara would be safe with them, so I gave her to them. I was very sad to say goodbye.

1.Chris got the idea to make a trip around India on an elephant from __________.

2.The elephant expert told Chris __________.

3.Chris decided to go to Sonepur because __________.

4.When Chris arrived at the market in Sonepur, __________.

Thank you for ________to let me _______on the trip．

1. A.
   agree, going
2. B.
   agreeing, to go
3. C.
   agreeing, go
4. D.
   agree, go

Shenzhou X and three astronauts(宇航员) were sent up from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu province, into a clear blue sky on Tuesday, bringing the nation one step closer to building its own space(太空) station in 2020.
　　Two men, mission commander(指挥官) Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang, and China’s second female astronaut, Wang Yaping, are expected to stay in space for 15 days.
　　They will teach young people about science and do two space dockings, between Shenzhou X and the unmanned Tiangong-1 space module, a technically difficult procedure that brings two spaceship together in high-speed orbit(轨道).
　　The trip is our country’s fifth manned space mission, 10 years after the country’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, went into space in 2003.
【小题1】How long will they stay in space?

用所给单词的适当形式填空：(10分)

1．It’s important to send my best __________(greet) to all your family.

2．The fans became very excited to get those _________(hero ) telephone numbers.  

3．We didn’t go to the meeting because it was ________(important).

4．________(luck), his cousin didn’t hurt his legs in the traffic accident.

5．I thanked our teacher for agreeing ___________ (let) me go on the trip last month.

6．When the player was a child, his mother spent much time________(sew) the clothes for him.

7．In the dinner party, the children helped___________(they) to much delicious food happily.

8．During this year’s Reading Week, Kitty read one of___________(famous) books in the world.

9．Julie was very happy to receive a lot of beautiful presents on her_________(twelve)birthday.

10．The writer was born in Inner Mongolia. He often _______(ride) a horse when he was young.