Nicolaus Copernicus was very frightened when he found all his calculations led to the same 【小题1】 (conclude) that the earth was not the center of the solar system. Only if you put the sun there did the movements of the other planets in the sky make sense. Yet the 【小题2】 (power) church believed God had made the world and 【小题3】 that reason the earth must be the center of the solar system.

Copernicus collected observations of the stars and used all his mathematical knowledge 【小题4】 (explain) them. But only his new theory could do that. He worked on his theory, gradually improving it. He placed 【小题5】 fixed sun at the center of the solar system with the planets going round it and only the moon still going round the earth. He also suggested that the earth was spinning as it went round the sun. In 1514 he showed his theory 【小题6】 (private) to his friends, who encouraged him to publish his ideas, but Copernicus was cautious and was afraid of getting 【小题7】 (attack) by the Christian Church.

The Christian Church rejected his theory,【小题8】 (say) it was against God's idea. Yet Copernicus' idea is now the basis on which all our ideas of the universe 【小题9】 (build). His theory replaced the Christian idea of gravity,【小题10】 said things fell to earth because God created the earth as the center of the universe.

It was Sunday December 7, 1941. It looked like it would be a normal day 【小题1】 board the ship. Suddenly, with a huge crashing sound from above, hundreds of Japanese planes dropped bombs on Pearl Harbor. In great horror, Russell 【小题2】 (suffer) serious burns and watched many of his friends die. After receiving the order to abandon ship, Louis still saved more men from the water, 【小题3】 (drag) them into the lifeboat. Because of his 【小题4】 (remark) actions, Louis was acknowledged as a hero, but he thought the ones giving their lives that day were real heroes. 【小题5】 (fortune), Russel survived after the treatment in hospital, but he was 【小题6】 (willing) to talk about the attack, describing it simply as “hell”.

The terrible scene of the attack, which was hatched by Japan and caused great loss, left a deep impression on Louis Russell. In response to the surprise attack and the famous address 【小题7】 (deliver) by President Roosevelt, the United States joined the Second World War.

Today, the USS Arizona lies 【小题8】 it sank: in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. A memorial shaped like a bridge 【小题9】 (cross) the ship’s sunken remains. Each year, more than two million people visit the memorial in memory of those victims and pray for world peace. Although almost eight decades has passed, the attack on Pearl Harbor, one of the 【小题10】 (dark) episodes in American history, will never be forgotten.

In the spring of 1944, the Allied powers in World War Ⅱ took the fight against Nazi into the fifth year. 【小题1】(plan) for months or even years, the D-Day called “Operation Overlord” was designed 【小题2】(free) north-west Europe from German occupation. After waiting for the perfect combination of weather, moon and tides, the date for the start of Operation Overlord 【小题3】(set) for June 6, 1944.

With General Eisenhower’s encouraging words 【小题4】(ring) in their ears, Allied soldiers prepared for 【小题5】 would become known as D-Day. The Allied invasion 【小题6】(stretch) across five beaches code-named “Utah”, “Omaha”, “Gold”, “Juno” and “Sword”. The fiercest fighting was at Omaha Beach. Countless Allied soldiers gave their lives on D-Day in violent attacks. Even though they were 【小题7】 the terrible cost of human life, the D-Day landings were 【小题8】 success and were considered 【小题9】(wide) as the beginning of the end of World War Ⅱ. By the end of August 1944, the Allies had reached the River Seine. Paris was liberated.

Seventy years later, people including 【小题10】(survive) came together for memorial ceremonies in honour of those who fought and died on D-Day.