LONDON, England (CNN)—The youngest person to sail solo around the world returned home
Thursday from his 30,000-mile, 282-day ocean journey.
      Mike Perham, 17, sailed into Lizard Point in Cornwall, the southernmost point in Britain, at 9:47 a.m.,
his race team said.
      "It feels absolutely brilliant," Mike told CNN by phone hours before crossing the finish line. "I'm
really, really excited to be going across the line at last. It doesn't feel like long since I crossed it first."
      Mike set off on his round-the-world trip on November 18, 2008. He has been sailing his yacht
single-handedly, though a support team has been sailing next to him along the way.
      The teen has now achieved the title of Youngest Sailor to Circumnavigate the Globe Solo, according
to the Guinness World Records.
      Mike learned how to sail when he was seven years old from his father, Peter and at age 14, he sailed
across the Atlantic alone.
      The teenager's school-which Mike describes as"highly supportive" of his trip-has redesigned his
coursework to fit in with his trip. It also gave him some coursework to do during"quiet moments,"
according to Mike's Web site.
     There haven't been many of those quiet moments. Repeated autopilot failures forced him to stop for
repairs in Portugal, the Canary Islands, South Africa, and twice in Australia, according to his Web site.
     Bad weather in the Southern Ocean-between Australia and Antarctica-forced Mike to battle 50ft waves
and 57 mph winds. He said at one point, a "freak wave" picked up the boat and turned it on its side.
     "My feet were on the ceiling at the time," he told CNN. "That was a really hairy moment, and I was
certainly thinking, 'Why am I here?' But we took the sails off and the day after I thought, 'This is brilliant!'"
      Mike describes his father as his biggest hero, always supportive of what he wanted to achieve. Peter
Perham said he wasn't too worried about his son facing dangerous situations at sea, as long as he knew
what to do and stayed safe.

1. Mike Perham returned to Britain in ______.

A. August
B. September
C. October
D. November

2. Mike Perham is ______ that went on the round-the-world trip in the world up till now.

A. the first
B. the bravest
C. the luckiest
D. the youngest

3. We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. the English school is the same as ours
B. the English school doesn't care for students
C. the English school has a humane management
D. the English school gives students a lot of course work

4. The passage mainly tells us ______.

A. Mike's exciting sail trip around the globe
B. how Mike's father taught him to sail a boat
C. why CNN wanted to report the news to the public
D. the introduction of the Guinness World Records

      BEIJING-The two-day visit to Washington has been heavy for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as
he attempts to improve ties with Washington and promote his international image ahead of the upcoming G-20
economic summit in London.
Special Relationship
      Brown had been praising the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States before he traveled
to Washington. "There is no international partnership in recent history that has served the world better than
the special relationship between Britain and the United States," Brown said in an article in The Sunday Times
of London. Such enthusiasm was quickly responded by Barak Obama, the new leader of the world's largest
economy. "The special relationship between the United States and Great Britain is one that is not just important
to me, it is important to the American people," told reporters after meeting with Brown. 
      Brown was the first European leader to meet Obama at the White House, and this might help the British
leader make his image smooth among countrymen in a turbulent (動(dòng)蕩) time and put him in a better position to
appear side by side with Obama at the April G-20 summit that will consider the international economic crisis.
Global New Deal
      The talks between Brown and Obama were expected to focus mainly on measures to jump-start
international economic growth in the most serious downturn in decades. Brown will first promote his "goal
new deal" with Obama before taking the G-20 talks. The prime minister, who is chairing the G-20 gathering,
has said he would push for deep adjustable changes and joint efforts from all of the world's major economies,
developed and developing, to correct financial rules and inspire the global economy.
      However, as pointed out by many analysts, there is the potential for bitterness between Britain and the
United States. That's because no small number of Britons believe themselves to be victims of a crisis which
they say was set off by the United States. Meanwhile, analysts say it was unrealistic to expect another
honeymoon for British-US ties as Obama seems to have attached more importance to the Pacific region than
to Europe.