World News for Students of English

31-05-2018 07:00

People have hailed Mamoudou Gassama as a hero and French real-life Spider-man after he risked his own life to climb a block of flats to rescue a boy in Paris.

The four-year-old child was dangling on a balcony on a fourth floor and would have certainly fallen down and died if he had not been saved. Mamoudou was the only person who took action to save the boy.

At the time of the selfless act, Mr Gassama was an illegal immigrant from Mali, a country in West Africa. President Macron later recognised his heroism and honoured him for his courage and devotion, offering him French citizenship and a job in the fire brigade.

Later people reported that the boy’s father left the child in the flat to go shopping and stayed out longer because he was playing Pokemon Go. He now faces charges of child neglect.

Difficult words: hail (call something good), dangle (hang loosely), courage (not being afraid, bravery), devotion (care), neglect (failing to care for).

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