●Geographic ChampionshipAugust 9, 2007 “What historic site was carved from sandstone

●Geographic Championship

August 9, 2007 “What historic site was carved from sandstone in about 1200 B.C.? This site includes two huge temples and statues of an ancient ruler.”

That’s the question that gave three students from Mexico victory over teams from Canada and the United States in the final round of the English National Geographic World Championship, a biennial contest of geography knowledge. Fourteen other international teams competed in the event, which has been since 1993.

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●House fire put off

Sept. 16, 2007 ― A home located at 240 Cexter Avenue in Meriden caught fire around 5:45 Sunday afternoon. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found the first floor of the woodframe house was in flames.

The Meriden Fire Department had it under control by 6:47 pm. The house suffered such heavy damage that the electricity was cut off. The house has been declared unlivable until repairs can be made.

There was no one in the house at the time. One firefighter was taken to Medical Center at 7:15 pm when he complained about not feeling well. Police are now looking into the cause of the fire.

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●Extinct languages

Sept. 18, 2007 In the vast outback of northern Australia, the native languages of the Aborigines are slowly dying. But a team of explorers and linguists are fighting to keep these dialects alive through the five year Enduring Voices project, funded by the National Geographic Society.

As the team tracks down speakers of these imperiled languages, including the only known speaker of a language long thought to be extinct, they learn why losing the wisdom of these mother tongues is a “tragedy for humanity.”

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60．Which team won the Eighth National Geographic World Championship in 2007?

      A．Canada                B．Mexico                C．America              D．Australia

61．How long did the fire last before firefighters stopped it from spreading?

       A．About one and half hours                      B．About one hour

       C．Forty hours                                         D．Two hours and a half

62．The underlined word “imperiled” can be replaced by         .

       A．valued                 B．cherished             C．reused                 D．endangered