Tortoise celebrates 175th birthday
A tortoise has celebrated his 175th birthday in Australia.
Harriet, a Giant Galapagos tortoise, celebrated her birthday at the zoo
in Queensland\'s Sunshine Coast with a pink hibiscus flower cake. She weighs 23 stone and is roughly the size of a dinner table
reports BBC online. Some people believe Harriet was studied by British naturalist Charles
Darwin. Darwin took several young Giant Galapagos tortoises back to London
after his epic voyage on board HMS Beagle. Although the animal\'s exact date of birth is not known, DNA testing has
indicated its approximate age. DNA testing has suggested Harriet was born around 1830, a few years
before Darwin visited the Galapagos archipelago in 1835. However,
she belongs to a sub-species of tortoise only found on an island that
Darwin never visited.
Cat gets plane to itself
Czech Airlines had to fly a cat home on an empty plane after the animal
escaped from the cargo hold. Workers could not find the cat and officials judged it was too
dangerous to allow the passengers back on board. The airline was forced to cancel the flight from Frankfurt to Prague
after technicians failed to catch the runaway cat which was hidden
somewhere on the plane. Czech Airlines spokeswoman Jitka Novotna said the plane returned to
Prague with just the crew and the cat on board, before the cargo hold was
dismantled and the cat was finally removed.
Missing bell found in pup\'s tum
A Shropshire woman finally found her prized ornamental bell - when
she heard her labrador puppy\'s tummy ringing. A week after losing all hope of finding the bell again, Beverly Harris
heard its familiar ring as she put Hector to bed. After searching his bedding, the mum realised the noise was coming from
the six-month-old labrador\'s stomach. Mrs Harris, 38, from Hadnall, told the Mirror: "I held him by the
hips and gave him a little shake and it rang again. "I told my husband Richard and he cried with laughter. The kids thought
it was hilarious too. We quickly nicknamed Hector Tinkler because
when he followed you the bell would ring." Hector had a ?235 operation to have it cut out - along with some garden
stones he\'d also swallowed. Vet Dean Halligan said: "If you shook him he rattled. He was
like a wind chime. "It was too large to vomit up and had it worked itself into his
small intestine it could have killed him."
Rotting rat found in crisps
Three Russian men are demanding ?1 million compensation after finding a
rotting rat corpse in a packet of crisps. Moscow Sanitary Centre officials said the unnamed men discovered the
dead rat, which was still whole, at the bottom of the kingsize packet
after eating just a couple of the crisps. A spokesman for the centre said: "They realised something was wrong
because of the revolting smell in the packet and the strange taste. "It appears the rat had been cooked and processed along with the
potatoes. It was seasoned and spiced just like the crisps," he
added. The men have now launched legal action against the firm which
made the crisps.
Woman sacked for wearing high heels
A secretary who was sacked in Brazil for wearing high heels
has won back her job. The woman, 32, from Taboao da Serra, sued for unfair
dismissal after she lost her job for the Planarc Company. The company admitted sacking her only because she wore high heels to
work, reports Folha de Sao Paulo. The company?s lawyer said that her choice of footwear made her more
likely to fall, injuring herself and potentially costing the
company money. "She was an accident waiting to happen!" he said.
But an industrial tribunal ruled that the company would have been
within its rights to discipline the woman but not to fire her. The company was ordered to offer the woman, who cannot be named, her
job back.
Unknown words:
tortoise - черепаха
stone - стоун (мера веса = 14 фунтам = 6,35 кг)
archipelago - архипелаг; группа островов
cargo hold - грузовой отсек
to dismantle - демонтировать, снимать оснащение
bell - колокольчик
tummy - животик, пузико
hip - бедро
hilarious - веселый
to swallow - глотать, проглатывать
to rattle - греметь; дребезжать
wind chimes - "музыкальная подвеска" (связка мелких предметов,
издающих приятный перезвон при дуновении ветра)
to vomit - страдать рвотой; рвать, блевать
small intestine - тонкая кишка
rotting - гниение
corpse - труп
revolting - отталкивающий, противный
to season - приправлять (блюдо, пищу)
to launch - начинать
to sack - (sl) увольнять с работы
heel - каблук
to sue - подавать в суд, возбуждать иск
dismissal - увольнение
to injure - повредить, поранить
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