World News for Students of English

03-07-2015 07:00

Hollywood composer James Horner, who scored the oscar-winning film Titanic, has died in a plane crash in Southern California. It’s believed he was flying his private aeroplane in the Los Padres National Forest north of Los Angeles when it crashed about 9:30 a.m. local time.

Fire authorities said the crash of the five-passenger plane in left an impact crater and sparked a fire that charred more than an acre (1 acre = 4,000 metres square) of bush and that there were no survivors.

Only one set of remains were found and are yet to be positively identified, but as the plane was registered to Horner and he’s not been heard from since the accident, authorities believe that the victim is the famous composer. The cause of the crash was not immediately known and investigations are continuing.

Horner won two Academy Awards for his work on Titanic, one for the movie score and one he shared with lyricist Will Jennings for best original song My Heart Will Go On which was performed by Celine Dion.

Horner also composed the music for an array of other major films including Aliens, The Karate Kid, and Braveheart. His scores for Avatar, A Beautiful Mind, and House of Sand and Fog earned Oscar nominations.

Difficult words: score (to write a score – the music for a film), impact crater (a hole made by a crash), char (to burn partially), positively (to say something is true), array (a number).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com