input: CHAPTER XVIII.

A CYCLONE.

"WHAT on earth is it all about?" Arthur Hill asked his comrades as the three boys gathered together after the work was done. "Why, there is not a breath of wind. Is it all done for practice, do you think?"

Jim shook his head. "I expect we are going to have one of those cyclones Mr. Timmins was speaking about the other day, though I don't see any signs of it, except the queer colour of the sky. I expect the glass must have been going down very fast. There is the captain popping into his cabin again. Well, he is not long about it," he added, as Captain Murchison hurried out again and spoke to Mr. Timmins, who immediately gave the order, "Furl mizzen and main topsails! Lower down the fore-staysail!"

"Well, there can't be more to do now," Jack said, when the order was carried out, "unless we set to work to set them all again."

"Look, Jack!" Arthur Hill said, grasping his arm and pointing away on the starboard beam.

A wall of black mist seemed to hang upon the horizon, rising momentarily higher and higher.

"The squall is coming, lads!" the captain shouted. "When it strikes her hold on for your lives. Carpenter, put a man with an axe at each of the weather-shrouds. We may have to cut away before we have done with it."

All eyes were now turned towards the bank of cloud, which was rising with extraordinary rapidity. Small portions of the upper line seemed at times to be torn off and to rush ahead of the main body, and then to disappear, suddenly blown into fragments. A low moaning sound was heard, and a line of white could be made out at the foot of the cloud-bank. The water around the ship was still as smooth as glass, though there was a slight swell, which swayed her to and fro, and caused the shrouds and blocks to rattle. 1. Were they on a ship?
2. What was the captains name?
3. What was headed their way?
4. Who is giving the orders?
5. What did he order?
6. What was on the starboard side?
7. Was it the cyclone?
8. What was it doing?
9. What did the skipper yell?
10. What did he order of Carpenter Return numbered answers in your output.

output: 1. yes
2. Murchison
3. cyclones
4. Mr. Timmins
5. "Furl mizzen and main topsails! Lower down the fore-staysail!"
6. A wall of black mist
7. yes
8. rising momentarily higher and higher
9. "The squall is coming, lads!
10. put a man with an axe at each of the weather-shrouds. We may have to cut away before we have done with it."

question: CHAPTER II

A fat, unwholesome--looking creature, half native, half Belgian, waddled across the open space towards the hut in which the two strangers had been housed. He was followed at a little distance by two sturdy natives bearing a steaming pot which they carried on a pole between them. Trent set down his revolver and rose to his feet.

"What news, Oom Sam?" he asked. "Has the English officer been heard of? He must be close up now."

"No news," the little man grunted. "The King, he send some of his own supper to the white men. 'They got what they want,' he say. 'They start work mine soon as like, but they go away from here.' He not like them about the place! See!"

"Oh, that be blowed!" Trent muttered. "What's this in the pot? It don't smell bad."

"Rabbit," the interpreter answered tersely. "Very good. Part King's own supper. White men very favoured."

Trent bent over the pot which the two men had set upon the ground. He took a fork from his belt and dug it in.

"Very big bones for a rabbit, Sam," he remarked doubtfully.

Sam looked away. "Very big rabbits round here," he remarked. "Best keep pot. Send men away."

Trent nodded, and the men withdrew.

"Stew all right," Sam whispered confidentially. "You eat him. No fear. But you got to go. King beginning get angry. He say white men not to stay. They got what he promised, now they go. I know King--know this people well! You get away quick. He think you want be King here! You got the papers--all you want, eh?"
1. Was someone followed?
2. Who?
3. By who?
4. What did Trent do
5. Then what?
6. Was something in the pot?
7. What?
8. Was it big?
9. When did the men withdraw
10. What did Sam want Trent to do
****
answer: 1. yes
2. A fat, unwholesome--looking creature, half native, half Belgian
3. two sturdy natives
4. set down his revolver
5. and rose to his feet.
6. yes
7. Rabbit
8. yes
9. when Trent nodded
10. To go

Question: Way back in 1662,John Evelyn,a brilliant Englishman known for his detailed diaries,wrote

About disastrous effects of coal-burning on the city of London .In it,he described an infernal scene of

smog.air filled with "Columns and Clouds of Smoke''given out by small industries and residences

that burned coal for fuel.

I found the description in the 2003 book When Smoke Ran like Water,by epidemiologist and environmental advocator Devra Davis.In it,Davis looks back at several historic pollution events and their disastrous effect on human human health-and at how these phenomena were often Ignored or even actively covered up by then people in charge at that time.

As Davis points out,John Evelyn was ahead of his time when writing about how London's

polluted air affected the well-being of its residents.It wasn't until nearly 300 years later,after what

became well-known as the Great Smog of 1952,that the government began to address the problem in a systematic way.

For four days.Between December 5th"and 9th",due to all accident of the weather pattern,the city

was buried in a heavy fog .People were still burning coal for fuel,and low-grade coal at that time,

because 0f wartime condition.A temperature inversion trapped the smoke from the city's fires,

creating a black cloud in which people could barely find their way down the most familiar streets

Some tried to protect themselves,but most people simply went about their business

But l952's fog was far worse than any other in memory.In the same week of the previous year,

1852 people had died in London;inl952,that number was 4703 And the deaths didn't stop when

the weather changed and the fog lifted.Davis and her colleagues analyzed data from the next several

months and found that about 13000 more people died between December and March than one would

have predicted from historical averages Many of them died of pneumonia .The government,

she writes.Tried to blame a bad flu season.Her detailed analysis found that explanation simply did

not pan out.

Davis writes that even today in this country ,we still have not completely absorbed the lessons

0f similar events.Sixty years the killer fog lifted in London,people are dying preventable

deaths and suffering life.changing illnesses,simply because they must breathe the air of the cities

where they live 1. who is Devra Davis?
2. what book did he write?
3. when?
4. what is it about?
5. what did he say about John Evelyn?
6. when was the Great Smog?
7. does Davis think we have learned a lesson?
8. who is John Evelyn?
9. is he Irish?
10. where is he from?
11. what did he write about?
12. what event was he writing about?
13. of what?
14. where was the smoke from?
15. why were they burning it? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers:
1. epidemiologist and environmental advocator
2. When Smoke Ran like Water
3. 2003
4. historic pollution events
5. ahead of his time
6. 1952
7. no
8. known for his detailed diaries
9. no
10. England
11. smog
12. disastrous effects
13. of coal-burning
14. small industries and residences
15. burned coal for fuel.