Составить краткий пересказ: An Amazing Rescue

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flat
lawyer
luggage
milliard
cab
company
city/town centre
chemist's
lift
autumn
petrol
motorway
cross-roads
living room
coach
post
cinema
trousers
sleeper
railway
shop-assistant
time-table
football
underground
booking office
to be sick
advocate
lorry
boot

Our wonderful hotel stands, or rather stood, right on the beach. For some reason, on that particular day we were given a table right next to the exit, the furthest away from the sea. We had hardly started our meal when there was some noise, with people getting up from their seats. Everyone was pointing at something. And there really was something to see! The water had disappeared, falling back from the shore by about 150-200 metres, revealing coral and beaching small boats. Many rushed off to examine this phenomenon and to take photos. The fact that we had left our camera in our room no doubt saved our lives. Three minutes later the water reappeared. A characteristic of a tsunami is that the wave isn’t very deep, less than a metre, but it travels at the speed of an aeroplane and is about 100 kilometres in length. It only gains in height when it comes into the shallows. All that stuff in Hollywood disaster movies when people can be seen running and screaming from the water (or the fire, or the hurricane), turned out to be true. The water came rushing up faster than anyone could run, though. We managed to make it up onto the top floor of the hotel, the third, from where we looked down. The hotel was already an island, the water half way up the first floor. As if playing with toys, the water was churning furniture, scooters, cars, people… A short while later, the water began to roll back into the ocean. It hadn’t reached the second floor, where our room was. We got our passports and money from the safe, quickly packed a rucksack with bare essentials and, grabbing the camera, returned to the third floor. Some people went down to the ground floor, looking for their things, up to the waists in the water, trying to get into their rooms. We started photographing the destruction from above the ocean. We froze when we saw the second wave. Those who had gone downstairs hardly had a chance. Describing the horror we felt is impossible. The second wave was several times stronger than the first, and it became clear that the hotel, along with us, was doomed. The water washed away the balconies and windows, flooding through the building. The height of the water at that point was about ten metres. We rushed up the stairs as high as we could go. During the second wave, it occurred to us that more waves would follow. We were tense, concentrated. The clarity of our thoughts shocked us. We worked out a strategy for what we would do if we ended up in water. We agreed where we'd meet if we got separated.When the second wave fell back, people started jumping into the water and swimming in the direction of the shore. We considered this option but decided to hang on as long as the building was still standing. It wasn’t far to the ‘new’ shoreline, but it was chaos in the water: cars, furniture, buses, carpets, trees – the chance of getting a whack on the head was too high. And there could be more waves coming. When the third wave came, it became clear that our decision had saved our lives. Although smaller than the second, the third was also strong. Then we sat at the top of the hotel, waiting for the fourth. The only way to get away was by swimming, but no one was taking that risk. No fourth wave came. A dry patch had appeared on one side of the building and we could flee across it. Running was hard, as we were loaded down, and we were making our way in a thick layer of slippery mud. The locals led us to a hill further back from the water. They were doing everything they could to help the tourists – carrying stuff, giving them their shoes, showing the way, carrying those who couldn’t walk. I don’t want to see anything like that again in my life. And I hope with all my heart that you don’t either!

Оригинал:
Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachov was an outstanding Russian scholar who was considered the world's foremost expert in Old Russian language and literature. He has been called "a guardian of national culture" and "Russia's conscience".

The same year he graduated from the Leningrad University (1928), Likhachov was arrested for his speech criticising the Bolshevik reform of Russian orthography. Deported to the Solovki Special Purpose Camp, he spent 5 years there. Likhachov returned to Leningrad unbroken, and started his spectacular scholarly career in the Pushkin House (as the Russian Literature Institute is known), which spanned more than 60 years and saw the publication of more than 500 scholarly works. Likhachov didn't stop his work even during the Siege of Leningrad. He believed that Russia was an integral and indivisible part of European civilisation, contrary to "Euroasiatic" views of Russia popular with Lev Gumilev, Boris Rybakov, and many other contemporaries.

In 1953, Likhachov was admitted into the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He defended Andrei Sakharov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn and others during their hard years. In 1986, he was elected the first President of the Russian Cultural Fund. In his 80s and 90s, he became more of a public figure, serving as an informal advisor to St Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak and President Boris Yeltsin. In 1993, he became the first person to be named an Honorary Citizen of St Petersburg. He also presided over the commission set up to prepare for Alexander Pushkin's bicentenary. A year before his death, Likhachov became the very first recipient of the reinstated Order of St Andrew. The Likhachov Philanthropic Fund was set up in 2001.

Перевод:
Дмитрий Сергеевич Лихачев был выдающимся российским ученым, который считался передовым экспертом по древнерусскому языку во всем мире. Его называли «страж национальной культуры» и «совесть России».В том же году, когда Лихачев окончил Ленинградский университет (1928). его арестовали за его речь, критикующую большевистскую реформу орфографии. Его отправили в лагерь специального назначения на Соловках, где он пробыл 5 лет. Лихачев вернулся в Ленинград несломленный духом и начал грандиозную карьеру ученого в Пушкинском доме (как сейчас называют Институт русской литературы РАН), который существует более 60 лет и в котором хранится более 500 научных работ. Лихачев не прекратил свою работу даже во время осады Ленинграда. Он верил, что Россия неотъемлемая и неделимая часть европейской цивилизации. вопреки евроазиатским взглядам на Россию Льва Гумилева. Бориса Рыбакова и многих других современников. В 1953 году Лихачев был принят в советскую Академию наук. Он защищал Андрея Сахарова, Александра Солженицына и других во время их тяжелого периода. В 1986. году он был избран первым президентом Российского культурного фонда. В возрасте 80-90 лет он стал публичной фигурой, неформальным советником мэра Анатолия Собчака и президента Бориса Ельцина. В 1993 году он стал первым человеком, названным почетным гражданином Санкт-Петербурга. Он также руководил комиссией, организованной, чтобы подготовиться к двухсотлетию Александра Пушкина. За год до своей смерти Лихачев стал самым первым получателем восстановленного ордена Святого Андрея. Благотворительный фонд Лихачева был основан в 2001 году.

Mayan Civilisation of Central America. The disappearance of one of the great civilisations of the ancient world puzzled scientists for years, as they searched for clues among the ruined and deserted Mayan cities. How could a sophisticated culture with its knowledge of mathematics and astronomy vanish into thin air? At its height in about 800 AD, there were probably about 13 million •Mayans supporting elaborate cities with grand pyrarnid temples. Their lands extended from Chichen Itza on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, through Tikal in Guatemala to Copan in Honduras. And then, almost instantly, everything collapsed. Researchers have recently discovered that it was in fact climate change that caused the collapse of Mayan culture. It coincides directly with several periods of intense drought each lasting about a decade. The worst drought lasted between about 760 and 800 AD. Each one put more intense pressure on an already fragile civilisation. The cities were densely populated. But they relied on corn-growing farmers who didn't produce enough to sustain both themselves and the city dwellers. Even though the Maya built reservoirs to collect water, their crops still depended on seasonal rains. Their land had few rivers, being mostly dry limestone. When the rains failed, the water for drinking and agriculture simply ran out. With few reserves and lacking what became crucial for survival, Mayan Civilisation died. History has many examples of cultures that collapsed in other parts of the world. Almost 3,500 years ago, a drought lasting about 200 years terminated a flourishing society in Mesopotamia. Scientists know from studying the rings in trees that a drought in about 1130 AD destroyed the Anasazi culture of the Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, USA. But not all societies have had to surrender to the devastating effects of drought. The Chumash, of California's Channel Islands, apparently changed their behaviour in response to climate change. When deadly droughts threatened their survival, these hunter-gatherers became traders. What can modern societies learn from the Maya's downfall? Supplies of clean water are one of the biggest problems facing countries all over the world. Australia has experienced record droughts since the start of the 21st century. The western USA uses so much water that the Colorado River is dry by the time it joins the sea. People will have to change their habits even more, in order to survive the climate changes that are predicted in the next decades.