News feed：No dragons under the moon
【明報專訊】TAI HANG fire dragon dance (大坑舞火龍), a traditional event held for more than a century, was cancelled to avoid social gathering amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It is originally to be held alongside the Mid-Autumn Festival. Believing that a dancing dragon could defend themselves from natural disasters and disease, every year villagers staged a parade of the dancing beast with firecrackers on the evening from the 14th to 16th of the eighth lunar month (農曆八月).
◆Pyramids endangered
HEAVY rain wreaked havoc on Sudan (蘇丹), a country in North Africa, reaching unprecedented levels of flooding across the Nile River (尼羅河), endangering archaeological sites, including the 2300-year-old royal pyramids of Meroe, the capital of an ancient kingdom.
◆A deadly broadcast
EARLY this month, during a Facebook live broadcast, a Frenchman with an incurable disease demanded euthanasia by not eating and taking medicine. Shortly the broadcast was terminated by Facebook, who said that broadcasting a suicide attempt violated its terms, but it respected the man's wish to raise the awareness of voluntary euthanasia.
■Gear up
According to the passages on this page, circle the correct answers.
(1) The Frenchman was encouraged by Facebook to have his situation broadcast. ( True / False )
(2) Tai Hang fire dragon dance takes place in August every year. ( True / False )
(3) Sudan is an ( A. Asian / B. Australasian / C. African ) country.
(Answers on next text)
■Glossary
parade (n) 巡遊
wreak havoc on (v phr) 肆虐
unprecedented (adj) 前所未有的
euthanasia (n) 安樂死
[Smarties' Power English 第285期]
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