During the past three decades,China    1     (witness)the railway industry’s transformation from making slow trains     2     making domestically manufactured high-speed trains

In 1997,China started     3     (it)first significant railway speed increase. Since then, the country’s high-speed rail technology has continued to achieve breakthroughs250 km/h to 350 km/h and then to 400 km/h.Made-in-China high-speed trains not only operate     4     (smooth) in freezing weather and desert    5     (region),but they also come with driverless technology Millions of railway workers take pride in their roles as the company provides    6     clear route for their professional advancement.Through    7     (train), practical operation and assessment, they can move up as a wiring worker to a technician, an operator an expert and even a scientist

As trains become faster and more intelligent, their software and hardware systems will become more complex thus requiring    8     (high)technical competence for daily maintenance by railway workers. For these diligent railway workers    9     have skilled craftsmanship, improving their skills tirelessly to ensure safe operation of the trains seems like an     10     (end)learning curve throughout life.

4 . The Public Transport Fares in New York

On our website, you can find out how much it costs to ride the subway, bus, Long Island Rail Road, and Metro-North in the New York area.

★ Subways and buses

●Fare for most riders on subways and local, limited, and Select Bus Service buses:$2.85.

●Express buses cost $6.85.

More information about subway and bus fares

●Riding the subway costs $2.85 for most riders. People with disabilities or who are 65 or older are qualified for a reduced fare.

●An unlimited ride MetroCard can save you money. It gives you unlimited rides for a certain length of time.

●MetroCards cost $1. All cards except for the Single Ride card are refillable (可充值的).

●Up to three children under 44 inches tall ride for free when they are with a fare-paying adult.

●You pay the fare at turnstiles (旋转闸门) before you aboard the train. You don’t have to do anything afterwards.

★ Railroads: LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) and Metro-North

●Fares vary based on when and where you are travelling.

●Buying tickets on your phone is the most convenient option.

More information about railroad fares

●Peak (高峰的) fares are charged during business rush hours on any weekday train scheduled to arrive in New York City terminals between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. or depart New York City terminals between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. On Metro-North trains, peak fares also apply to travel on any weekday train that leaves Grand Central Station between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.

●Off-peak fares are charged at all other times on weekdays, all day on Saturday and Sunday, and on holidays.

●Use our trip planner to find fare information. Get schedules and directions and see whether a trip is during peak or off-peak hours.

People need transportation to move from one place to another. As time went by, transportation methods improved. Especially after the invention of airplanes, they made travel more convenient and     1     （easy）.

The airplane     2     （invent）by Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903.     3     first airplane, Wright Flyer I, flew 36.5 meters in 12 seconds. After that, the two brothers kept     4     （improve）their airplanes. They     5     （fly）in public in France in 1908, and started taking passengers with them. Ever since, many other people made great efforts to improve and develop airplanes. Thanks to their efforts, airplane technology developed     6     （extreme）fast.

Today, airplanes have many different     7     （apply）. People can use airplanes to travel to other countries, send urgent mails and help people     8     danger. They use airplanes to send water, food, medicine, etc. to cities that need help. However, airplanes are not only used in positive ways,       9     they are also used to fight wars.

Many things     10     （change）since the invention of the airplane. Airplanes have made travel or transport faster. Airplanes have really changed our lives.

8 . Movies about the future often show people travelling around in flying cars. Last Tuesday, that vision came a step closer to reality for a Japanese company called SkyDrive, as it showed off its new flying car, the SD-03, in action. The small car flew around for four minutes, staying about 1-2 meters off the ground.

The SD-03 is powered by batteries and has 8 motors, which lift it straight off the ground. What made this test flight special was that a pilot was on board. Toraohiro Fukuzawa, who leads SkyDrive，said, “Of the world’s over 100 flying car projects, only a handful have succeeded with a person on board.”

Many groups worldwide are working to develop flying cars. Some governments, including Japan’s, are supporting the idea, hoping that in the future, flying cars will be useful for short trips like taxi rides in cities. Flying cars could also help reach places that can’t be reached by road.

What happens when a motor fails? If flying cars are crossing a city, an accident could hurt not just people in the car, but people on the ground, too. That’s why the SD-03 has eight motors—as backups.

Some people believe flying cars reduce traffic jams. But new systems will be needed to help control traffic in the air. With many cars flying around, these systems would be too complicated to be managed in real time by humans. Besides, flying cars are expensive. When it’s ready, SkyDrive’s flying car is expected to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000.

However, people who believe in flying cars point out that cars and airplanes faced challenges at first, too. With time, many of the big problems were solved. By 2050, Mr. Fukuzawa hopes people will be able to fly anywhere inside Tokyo in just 10 minutes. “I think flying cars will become normal in the near future.” he says.

In hundreds of cities around the world, people can use a car     1     actually owning one. It’s known as car sharing.

Car sharing works like this: people pay a fee     2     (join) a car share organization. These organizations have cars available in different parts of a city 24 hours a day. Members make a     3     (reserve) for a car, and then go to one of several parking lots in a city to pick up the car. They pay an hourly or daily rate for driving it. When they are     4     (finish), they return the car to a parking area for someone else to use.

Car sharing works well for several reasons. Some people only need to drive from time to time. Usually, people only need a car for special reasons like moving things or     5     (take) long trips. Many people don’t want the costs or responsibilities of owning     6     car. The car-share organization pays for gas insurance, cleaning and repair costs.

Members also don’t have to wait in line or fill out     7     (form) to get a car. They know a variety of cars will be available when they need one.

Car sharing also     8     (benefit) the environment. People drive only     9     they need to and fewer cars on the road means     10     (little) traffic and air pollution. As more and more cities become interested in reducing traffic, car sharing programs are becoming an effective choice.

10 . Commuting has long been a problem for urban residents worldwide, especially for those living and working in big cities _______ Beijing, Shanghai, New York City and Tokyo. For commuters, _______ subways and traffic jams during rush hours are nothing short of a nightmare.

Forty years ago when I came to Beijing to work for China Daily, people had the same _______ as they have today, but for different reasons. _______ Beijing had just one subway line, Line One, which _______ a little more than 20 kilometers. And since it was the only subway in China, I was told that it was built more as an air raid shelter than a _______ of public transport.

On the ground, _______ were few and narrow but had little traffic, for there were no _______ cars in China four decades ago. Apart from buses and a few government cars, horse-pulled carriages that transported daily necessities also _______ the roads. And when a bus ________ came, it was more likely than not to be already ________, and one had to struggle to ________ it.

________, most people commuted by bicycles earning China the ________ of a "country of bikes". Each day, I pedaled for hours, commuting between dorm and office, ________ news conferences and interviewing people for the ________.

When I traveled on the subways of New York City, Tokyo and West Berlin in the 1980s, I was ________ by their spider-web-like network and ________ that China would one day have as fast, reliable and convenient a subway system.

Chinese cities, ________, have even better subway systems today. 40 Chinese cities have subways with more than 6,000 km of tracks while about a similar number of cities are building new ones. The subway today is the ________ mode of public transport in Beijing with nearly 10 million commuters using it on any working day.