Johnny the Explorer Johnny was three when he ran away from home for the first time. Somebody left the garden gate open. Johnny wandered out, crossed some fields and, two hours later, arrived in the next village. He was just able to give his name and address. By the time he was seven, Johnny used to disappear from home two to three times a year. Sometimes he covered quite long distances on foot. Sometimes he got on a bus or even a train, and simply sat there until someone asked for his ticket. Generally the police brought him home. “Why do you do it?” they used to ask. “I just like seeing places,” Johnny told them. Johnny continued to “see places” although everyone tried to stop him. His parents used to watch him closely, and so did his teachers; but sooner or later Johnny managed to slip away. As he grew older, his favorite trick was to hide on a long distance truck. Sometimes he travelled hundreds of miles before anyone discovered him. It is hardly surprising that eventually Johnny managed to board a plane. He was twelve at the time. It was a cargo plane and, a few hours later, Johnny found himself in Cairo. How did he get on board? No one knows! According to Johnny himself, it was easy: he just went into the airport, walked along some passages and got on board the nearest plane. In spite of all this, Johnny did well at school. He enjoyed mathematics and languages and, perhaps not surprisingly, he was especially good at geography. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” his teachers asked him. “An explorer!” he answered. “But it’s difficult to become an explorer in this modern age,” they tried to tell him. But it was no use: Johnny knew what he wanted! Just before he left school, Johnny saw a notice in a daily paper. A long journey was about to go to Brazil to travel up the Amazon River. There were jobs for three young people “willing to work hard and with a sense of adventure”. Johnny applied, and two months later, he was on his way to Brazil. 小题1:At what age did Johnny board a plane for the first time?
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