英语听力精选进阶版 7101（在线收听）

Background: 埃及一热气球再次坠落。据报道这是近年第三起由于热气球坠落导致游客受伤的事故。

Hot air ballooning at sunrise over the ancient temples of Karnak and Luxor is a magical experience. But for a good number of tourists this year the descent has been less than perfect.

In this latest accident the balloon is said to have struck a mobile phone mast on the west bank of the Nile near the village of Gourna.

Among 13 people injured, were eight French tourists, two Britons, a Canadian, a Dane and a South Korean.

Despite an earlier statement from the Governor of Luxor, that all had been released from hospital with minor scrapes and bruises, it appears that five of them are in fact being transferred to Cairo for further treatment.

There are reports that one of the French tourists has a broken back and a British woman travelling with them is said to have a suspected broken leg.

This is the third such incident in as many months. A fortnight ago several tourists were injured in a similar crash. And in late February, three hot air balloons carrying sixty tourists crashed on the same day in separate locations, injuring seven passengers. Mostly broken bones.

The problem appears to be the number of balloon companies that are working in the area - all of them competing on price.

So far there have been no deaths but in the past the government has been forced to ground the balloons while it investigates safety.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

ancient temples 古老的寺庙

magical 神奇的

tourists 游客

descent 降落

accident 事故

struck 撞上

mast （通信）塔

bank 河岸

released 出院

incident 事故

crash 坠落

passengers 乘客

ground 停飞

Questions and Answers

1. Whereabouts in Egypt did the hot air balloon crash?

It crashed over the ancient temples of Karnak and Luxor.

2. What nationalities were the injured tourists?

The injured tourists were French, British, Canadian, Danish and South Korean.

3. How many people died?

Nobody died although there were some minor injuries.

4. How many other hot air balloon accidents have there been recently?.

There have been two other hot air balloon incidents in the last few months.