At least two have died as wildfires raged through the grasslands of Russia's Khakassia

republic in southern Siberia, state media reported. Officials were cited as saying more
than 20 villages and towns had been damaged.
Russia's Emergency Ministry said a plane had been deployed as well as three fire
trains and more than 5,000 people in an effort to control the fire.
However, it said strong winds were hampering the operation. The RIA Novosti news
agency said fire crews were also struggling with a water shortage because reservoirs
were still covered with ice.
The provisional death toll was given as two, although a figure of four was also
reported.
The regional government called for volunteers to help put out the fire, which on
Sunday destroyed 118 homes in 21 towns and villages. A statement urged "residents
of the region to battle the fire, which began because of residents themselves after
uncontrolled grass burning."
The fires, which come at a time of dry and windy weather, have been burning for
several days, the Emergency Ministry said. Seventy-three people were said to have
suffered burns or smoke inhalation.
Wildfires in Russia in 2010 killed at least 60 people, destroyed more than 3,000 homes
and left Moscow shrouded in smoke. In 2012, blazes destroyed some 10 million
hectares of Siberian forest, environmental groups claimed.
rc/pfd (AP, dpa, AFP, Reuters)

Word
Wildfires

Grasslands

Hampering

Struggling

Reservoirs

Toll

Burning

Suffered

Shrouded

Meaning

Jessica Biel and Justin Timblerlake welcomed their first child together, a son, named
Silas Randall Timberlake.
JT confirmed his wife was pregnant on Jan. 31, his birthday, when he posted a photo
of Jessicas baby bump with the caption, Thank you EVERYONE for the B.day wishes!
This year, Im getting the GREATEST GIFT EVER. CANT WAIT.
Pregnant Jessica Biel Has Come A Long Way Since 7th Heaven!
At the time, he revealed the couple did not know the babys gender yet.
Now that we know its a bouncing baby boy, we can only hope mom, dad and Silas
are in 7th Heaven!

Vocabulary
Word
Bump

Bouncing

Gender

Meaning

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Rio de Janeiro is a late-night town, and the schedule for the 2016
Olympics in Brazil will cater to those who like to be up and about after dark.
The men's and women's beach volleyball finals on famous Copacabana Beach will
wrap up about 1:30 a.m. -- if everything runs on schedule. This sport goes for 13 days,
and there is action at the venue nightly until at least 1 a.m. -- even for preliminary,
quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
This might be the hottest ticket in town. The beach, the sport and the late hour
guarantee the kind of image Rio organizers want to portray -- party hard, and party
late.
The just-released competition schedule offers other meanderings for night owls. Late
events in Brazil will generally suit the large North American television audience with
Rio one hour ahead of New York (EST), and four ahead of the U.S. west coast. It also
suits Asia, where late-evening events in Rio happen in the morning the next day and
may extend into the early afternoon.
The Olympics open Aug. 5, 2016 and close Aug. 21. All times listed are local.
Late-evening swim
Evening swimming sessions will wrap up about midnight. Three of the eight days of
competition are due to end even a few minutes later. To give swimmers -- and fans -sufficient rest, the sessions for preliminary heats will start daily at 1 p.m. Those sessions
at other Olympics have typically started in the morning.
Nightly basketball
There is basketball all 16 days of the Olympics, and much of it will end around
midnight. A few overtime games could make it even later.
There is a session of basketball at the main basketball venue starting every night
between 10:15 and 10:30. The only exceptions are the last four days of semifinals and
finals. Men's and women's basketball on those days will wrap up in the early evening.
Running in the dark
Track and Field will end most nights about 11 with most evening sessions starting at
8:15. For those expecting Usain Bolt to win his third consecutive gold medals in the 100
and 200, mark these dates and times. The 100-meter final is the last final of the session
on Aug. 14 and starts at 10:25 p.m. The 200 final is four days later on Aug. 18, also the

final event in the session, and starts at 10:30 p.m. This could be Bolt's final race of his
Olympic career. Eight finals are also scheduled for morning sessions. Five other roadevent finals will also start in the morning.
Night-owl volleyball
Volleyball is played all 16 days with every evening session set to end after midnight.
Brazil's women have won the last two Olympic gold medals -- defeating the United
States each time. That final is Aug. 20 with the end expected about 12:30 a.m. at the
Maracanazinho, the small indoor arena next to the famous Maracana football
stadium. The men's final starts in the early afternoon on Aug. 21. Brazil has two
consecutive silver medals here, losing the final to the United States in 2008, and to
Russia in 2012 in London.
Erly birds
No surprise here. Golf is the early starter. Play for the first three rounds of the men's and
women's event starts at 8 a.m. The final round for both men and women begins at
7:30 a.m. Golf returns to the Olympics for the first time since the 1904 St. Louis
Olympics. Men play Aug. 11-14. There's a two-day break with women playing Aug. 1720. It's a stroke-play event, as are most golf tournaments -- excluding the men's Ryder
Cup and the women's Solheim Cup, which use a match-play format.

Vocabulary
Word
Cater
Wrap
Gender
Venue
Portray
Owls
Defeating
Indoor
Stroke

Meaning