At 3:42 a.m. everything began to shake.     1     seemed as if the world was at an end! Eleven kilometers directly below the city one of the greatest     2     (earthquake) of the 20^th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing,     3     is more than two hundred kilometers away. One–third of the nation felt it. A huge crack that was eight kilometers long and thirty metres wide cut across houses, roads and canals. Steam burst from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of     4     (dirty). In 15 terrible seconds a large city     5     (lie) in ruins. The     6     (suffer) of the people was extreme. Two-thirds of the people died or     7     (injure) during the earthquake. Thousands of families were killed and many children were left     8     parents. The number of people     9     were killed or     10     (serious) injured reached more than 400,000.

Rachel and her husband, Jason,     1    were both experienced climbers, were on a climbing holiday in Switzerland. When they were 3，000 metres up in the mountains, there was     2     storm. The wind was     3     (extreme) strong and the snow was two metres deep. They couldn’t move. Rachel had her mobile phone with her, so she sent a text message to five friends in the UK     4     (get) their help.

About four hours later, one of her     5    (friend), Martha sent her with a text message. Martha said she     6    (phone) the police in Switzerland and suggested that they     7    (wait) patiently and that they had got in touch with a mountain rescue team. They were on the way     8    ( help) them.

But the weather was so bad     9     the helicopter (直升飞机) couldn’t get to the two climbers immediately. They     10     (encourage) to keep calm by the rescue team. Finally, they were rescued.