1.
ZHANG Jin was excited to get the bonus (奖励) of a free trip to Thailand from his company. But the manager from Qingdao, Shandong province, didn’t expect to have a dangerous experience.
The next day, upon Zhang’s arrival in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, he was shocked to find himself in a city filled with street battles (战斗) between two groups. One group was supporting the Thai government while the other was against it.
The anti-government (反政府的) group has taken a number of actions recently. It took over the prime minister’s (总理) office in August and had street battles with the police. Two people were reported to be killed and hundreds injured.
Last month the anti-government group took over two international airports in Bangkok and stopped all flights. about 240,000 foreign tourists, including over 3,000 Chinese people like Zhang, were forced to stay in the country.
“We were nervous on the streets. But we felt at home with other Chinese from Hong Kong or Taiwan,” said Zhang.
Luckily, the Chinese government sent chartered flights (包机) to bring the people back. Now, all the Chinese tourists are safely back home. “The moment the plane left Thailand, we cheered for joy,” said Zhang.
Last week Thailand’s prime minister Somchai Wongsawat stepped down and the airports reopened. But the country’s tourism industry needs time to return to normal.
Tourism is the biggest part of the country’s economy (经济). Thailand is called “Land of Smiles” and has some of Asia’s best beaches. It has made $17 billion (十亿) from 15.5 million tourists this year.
BONUS
“旅游”相关表达：
take a trip to 去旅游
Last year they took a trip to Europe.
tour 在……旅游
It was nice to tour the small ancient city.
show sb around 领……参观
The tour guide showed us around the old building.
go sightseeing 观光
She’s going sightseeing in Hong Kong.
places of interest 名胜古迹
Beijing is famous for its places of interest.
2.
New UK soccer champ
MANY people think English football player Frank Lampard is only successful because of his hard work. They think he wasn't a born talent like Ronaldinho or Thierry Henry.
Frank Lampard
But Lampard has proved that he is one of the top players in the world. The Chelsea (切尔西) player scored an amazing goal on October 31. He shot from a difficult place at the side of the net and the ball went in! His team drew 2-2 with Barcelona, another great team.
"It was one of the best goals I've ever scored. I'll probably never score a better one," said Lampard, 28.
3.
Almost a winner
SPANISH F1 driver Fernando Alonso won the Japanese Grand Prix (大奖赛) on October 8. That makes his win for the championship this year. The long-time leader, Michael Schumacher, quit (退出比赛) after engine failure in the race. Now Alonso leads Schumacher by 10 points. He only needs to finish in eighth place to win his second world championship.
4.IT'S a world of mobile phones and other high-tech gadgets (小器具). Last week, the Telecom World 2006 Exhibition (2006世界电信展) was held in Hong Kong. Here are some cool things from the exhibition.
5.SADDAM Hussein is the former (前任的) Iraqi president (总统). He was caught hiding underground in December 2003. Since then, he has been on trial for months. On November 5, Saddam was sentenced to hang for killing 148 people in the Iraqi town of Dujail, in 1982.
If the final decision on his death sentence is passed, he could be hanged early next year.
