Trains are cleaner, greener, more spacious and     1     (general) less troublesome than planes. Once     2    (view) as travel’s past, rail is now starting to look a lot like the future. In the USA, a huge expansion of the train network is drawing     3     (people) attention. And in Europe, some very cool plans have been made for a whole new generation of sleeper trains.

Sleeper services,     4     operate overnight between major destinations, get rid of the main disadvantage of train travel: the lengthy journey time. Like a red-eye flight on rail, you can board the train in the centre of one city and wake up in     5    , ready to drink a cup of coffee and explore.

Once numerous, Europe’s night trains have been cut back gradually over recent decades. But that trend is reversing (逆转).We’re very excited to hear about the     6     (announce) of five new European night train routes, launching over the next four years. A total of eight European countries     7     (link) by the new routes.

    8     short, your European travels over the     9     (come) years are going to involve hanging around not at airports     10     through railway stations. Needless to say, we’re into it. All aboard!

Electric vehicles (EVs) are a strong weapon in the world’s efforts     1     global warming, But the effects of EVs depend on which country you are in, new research shows.

The researchers compared gas emissions (排放) caused by charging an EV to drive 100 kilometers with the emissions     2     (come) from an average gasoline car driven the same     3     ( distant).

Countries     4     charging an electric vehicle is     5     (clean) than driving a gasoline-powered car use a lot of hydroelectric (水电), nuclear or solar power. Data suggests that an electric vehicle in Poland actually     6     (create) more carbon emissions because its electric system depends so much on coal. In other European countries, however, EVs result in reduced emissions.

Germany creates a lot of electricity from the sun and wind. But they do not add to the electricity system     7     (equal) throughout the day. For this reason, the amount of carbon emissions saved by driving an EV depends on the time of day when it     8     (charge). Charging in the afternoon, when there is more sun and wind, saves 16 to 18 percent more carbon than at night when electricity systems are more likely     9     (use) gas or coal.

The gap in emissions between electric and gasoline powered vehicles has narrowed in recent years. In Europe, carmakers have been required to meet EU carbon reduction standards. They have made their gasoline engines more fuel-efficient. As     10     result, the carbon emissions of new gasoline-powered cars in Europe fell by an average of 25 percent between 2006 and 2016.

Since the first line in 2008, China’s high-speed railway     1    (symbolize) a country’s economic power, and increasing prosperity. By the end of 2020, the country had more than 37,900 km of high-speed rail lines     2     service. China is also among the first in the world     3    (introduce) new technology such as autonomous train operation.

China is most likely to construct the first super-high-speed railway line     4     allows trains to travel up to 1,000 km per hour between Shanghai and Hangzhou. The 150-kilometer railway is likely to bring the Hyperloop concept which was originally proposed in 2013 into     5    (real). So far, scientists have evaluated six proposals with the most suitable construction conditions. Two wealthy cities in     6     eastern coastal area finally stood out. The super-high-speed transport system uses the most     7    (advance) techniques to transport passengers and goods. It is reported that the two coastal cities     8    (identify) as the most suitable in the last conference due to their strong economic activities. The project will provide significant economic potential     9     help China maintain its leading position in high-speed railway technology.

Several other     10    (candidate) have also been considered. Apart from constructing high speed railroads in the country, China also plans to build several others to connect the country with its neighbors.

The author     1     (travel) on the London Tube. It is very hot and the temperature outside will be over 30 degrees. He feels awful. It is even     2     (hot) inside the train than outside, and the author thinks he is melting and becoming one with the passenger next     3     him. Thinking that London will probably get hotter, the author feels a bit     4     (scare).     5     (prepare) for the future, he thinks he should put his flat on the     6     and buy a boat. Then speak with his manager about moving to the top floor and learn to swim so as to survive even when the tall buildings     7     (flood). In the newspaper, there are reports of     8     (nature) disasters around the world     9     (cause) by climate change,     10     makes the author feel nervous. Going outside, the author feels refreshed and realises he has been worrying too much.

Some bullet trains don’t run on tracks at all. They fly over them. They     1    (call) maglev bullet trains(磁悬浮高速列车)，and they use two groups of magnets to move. One group pushes the trains up and off the tracks and the other group pushes the trains forward,     2    makes the trains go much faster and make less noise, too. The world’s     3    (fast) train now is a maglev train in China. It has a maximum speed of 600 kilometers per hour.