Like other big cities, Paris has also a traffic problem: lots of cars, traffic jams and traffic pollution. So since 2007, the city     1    (start) a plan to improve the situation.

Under a project, people can take a bicycle, use it as long as they want, and then leave it at the same or another bicycle station. The first half-hour is free,     2     if you don’t return it after 30 minutes, you have to pay. It’s only $1 or $29 a year. The bicycles are as heavy as 25 kilograms, and they’re all grey and have baskets. There’re a large number of     3    (they) in the city, and the bicycle stations are more than the subway stations!

Paris isn’t the first city to operate a project like this. One Parisian said, “These bicycles are only suitable for short     4    (journey). If people want to travel across the city, they won’t use a bicycle — they’ll still use their cars.”

A city spokesman said, “The bicycle project won’t solve all our traffic problems, but it might work in     5    (reduce) air pollution. Traffic, together with factory fumes,     6    (be) a big problem. Everyone knows about global warming and dramatic climate changes — we know this is partly because rainforests are     7    (gradual) disappearing. And it’s also because there’s so much pollution. There aren’t any simple answers     8     traffic problems and pollution in cities, but the bicycles might help people lead     9     healthier life. Unless we do something now, there’ll be more traffic jams and temperatures will continue to rise, so the problems in our environment will get even     10    (bad).”

Strange things were     1     (happen) in the countryside of northeast Hebei. For three days the water in the village wells     2     (rise) and fell. Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in     3     (they). A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In the farmyards, the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous     4     (eat). Mice ran out of the field     5     (look) for places to hide. Fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds.     6     about 3:00 am on July 28^th, 1976, some people saw     7     (brightly) lights in the sky. The sound of planes could     8     (hear) outside the city of Tangshan even when no planes were in the sky. In the city, the water pipes in some buildings cracked and burst.     9     the one million people of the city,     10     thought little of these events, were asleep as usual that night.