Karan Singh is just like any other five-year-old- except for the fact that he is 5 feet 7 inches tall! When he was born, he was 15 pounds- the usual1of a newborn baby is about half of this, and he was four inches taller than the usual baby.2his height and weight at birth, his father Sanjay thought there might be something wrong with him, but doctors found he was3and really fine.
Before he could walk or talk, Karan was made into The Guinness Book of World Records in 2008 as the tallest and heaviest newborn baby. Karan clearly4his mother, Shweatlana, who is 7 feet 3 inches tall and one of the5women in South Asia! Sanjay is also quite tall at 6 feet 7 inches.
Being so tall isn't always a great thing for Karan and his6. Karan used to get bullied about his height, but he doesn't anymore. "But they all say that I am cheating when we7 basketball," Karan said.
Shweatlana also had trouble finding diapers that fit him when he was8and still has trouble finding children's clothes for him sometimes. "Now I just buy him adult size9. They fit him perfectly well," she said.
She is also10about her health and that her son might have the same condition she has. "I used to get about 1.5 inches of height every year because of too much growth hormone. I sometimes feel afraid that my son has the same disease as I have. But I know he is doing well and he will grow up to be a nice and healthy person."
Have you ever ridden a Ferris wheel lately? Can you imagine the flying feeling as you are pulled up to the top and then moved down to the bottom quickly again?
Today a Ferris wheel is usually 40 to 60 feet tall. That seems very high when you are on the top looking down. But the first Ferris wheel was 264 feet high- taller than a twenty-story building! Can you imagine the view from the top of that?
The first Ferris wheel was built for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. The people who planned the fair were looking for an attraction that would bring people to Chicago. George Ferris handed a drawing of a giant wheel that people could ride on. At first everyone laughed at his strange idea. But Mr Ferris did not give up, and finally the idea was accepted. The ride opened in June of 1893.
Today's Ferris wheels have 12 to 16 seats, which each carry 2 or 3 people. But that first one had 36 enclosed cars, each holding 60 passengers. When filled, it carried 2,160 people. During that summer in Chicago, about 1.5 million people rode the Ferris wheel.
After the fair, the ride was moved to a nearby amusement park built especially to show off the wheel. In 1904, it was moved again一to St. Louis for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. After the fair there, the wheel stood unused. In 1906, it was finally sold to a company for scrap metal(废金属).
Luckily a Chicago bridge builder, W.E. Sullivan, figured out how to make a smaller Ferris wheel that could easily be taken apart and put together. In 1906, he started the company that still makes many of the Ferris wheels used today.
But, whenever you ride one, remember that it all began with George Ferris's strange idea!
For most people, summer holidays mean sun, sea and sand, . She had a holiday full of ice and snow. She and her family travelled across Greenland! Starting just above the Arctic Circle (北极圈), Sarah's family used dogsleds with kites to cross the world's biggest island.
Sarah says . "There is only snow, ice, and more snow. " The family travelled 15 miles a day for 22 days, moving faster when strong winds pushed along their kites.
Then the weather became a bit hot for the dogs to pull sleds during the day, . The Landrys lived in tents, ate dried food, and took baths with heated water. When they weren't travelling, they played with kites and made snowmen. Using their mobile phones, the family could send and get emails even from Greenland's ice cap! The road to the top was icy and dangerous.
. "Icebergs (冰山) were so bright, just like the rising sun." said Sarah. Now she and her family have returned home, . Next holiday, they are going to the South Pole.
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A. so the family began travelling at night B. The difficult journey was worth it when they reached the ice cap and saw the view C. but not for Canadian schoolgirl Sarah Landry D. but they're already talking about their next plan E. there wasn't much to see during the long journey |
