China has entered the business of making airplanes. The first Chinese-made commercial aircraft took     1     from Shanghai on Sunday and landed at Beijing Airport. The narrow-bodied C919 plane had 128 passengers on board. The company that made the plane     2     (be) the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. This is shortened to “COMAC”. China’s President Xi Jinping praised the C919 aircraft as     3     success of Chinese innovation. Newspapers in China called the C919 “a symbol of national pride”. A passenger on the flight     4     (impress) with the plane. He said: “The flight was     5     (extreme) smooth, comfortable and memorable. I’ll remember this for some time to come.”

COMAC hopes to be a major     6     (play) in the commercial airplane market. It hopes to compete with industry giants such as Boeing and Airbus. COMAC started developing the C919 in 2008. Production began in late 2011. In September 2022, it was passed     7     (fly) commercially in China. COMAC’s first customer was China Eastern Airlines,     8     bought five of the aircraft. COMAC plans to build 150 planes each year for the next five years. A spokesperson said there were     9     (order) for more than 1,000 C919s from different Chinese airlines. He hopes airlines from other countries will soon start making orders,     10     (add) that the plane was an “important milestone” for China’s aircraft industry.

3 . Nowadays as countries across Europe begin easing their coronavirus (新冠) lockdown, a key question governments face is how to get their populations moving again without chaos on the road and rail.

With reduced public transport services and social distancing rules, preventing traffic jams on the roads will be a priority. So governments across the continent have been coming up with innovative ways to encourage people to cycle or walk instead.

The government has announced a $2.48 billion package to put cycling and walking “at the heart of” the country’s post COVID-19 transportation plan to relieve the pressure on public transport. $310 million of the package will be used to improve cycling and walking infrastructure, including building wider sidewalks and the introduction of cycle-only streets.

The Transport Minister Paola de Micheli has announced a package for its citizens to claim a $548 subsidy (补贴) on newly bought bikes.The offer applies to people living in a municipality with more than 50,000 inhabitants and can be claimed when they buy a traditional or electric bike, scooter, hoverboard, Segway, etc.

The French government has asked people to use bicycles to commute to work instead of their cars when the full COVID-19 lockdown ends on 11 May. An initiative from the Energy and Transport Ministry includes developing temporary bike lanes and up to $21.94 million worth of subsidies towards the cost of repairs. People will be allowed up to $55 for repairs while employers are supported to cover up to $438 of travel costs of staff who commute by bike. The plan also includes an increase in bicycle parking spaces and training for people who haven’t ridden for a while to get them back in the saddle.

Spain’s Environment Minister Teresa Ribera has asked mayors to extend bike lane coverage, reduce car speed limits and provide more bike parking in a bid to “overcome resistance generated from habits and conceptions that are well-established”. Cities   such   as   Madrid   and   Barcelona already have a good bike system in operation, although they are being improved. Old lanes in the cities are being widened so that cyclists can follow the social distancing measures, whilst completely new lanes are also being formed.

7 . If you’re planning to travel overseas, the most common form of transportation is by airplane.     1    

Purchase your ticket. Choosing an airline carrier might depend on a number of factors including the company’s service record, price of the ticket, length of time to destination, and even in-flight service.

    2    . You have to pay attention to the time, because the airline claims clearly that the flight stops check-in 30 minutes before departure, so you’d better be at the airport 1 hour before departure time.

Boarding procedures (that is, boarding pass). When you arrive, you usually check your bags at the main ticket counter.     3    .

Through security. You have to pass through the security checkpoint, where you will have to walk through an X-ray machine. Of course, this is for everyone’s safety.     4    , then you will go to the designated boarding area and gate to wait for your plane.

Boarding. The boarding card indicates where you are. Find your seat, sit down, fasten the safety belt, and turn off your cell phone before taking off.     5    . There are also life jackets under the seats, and oxygen masks in case the plane’s cabin unexpectedly loses pressure. Be sure to read the safety instruction card located in the pocket of the seat in front of you.

Airplane travel can be exciting and you can make this experience even better by knowing what to expect in advance. Please don’t take the safety of the plane, the crew, and the passengers like a joke, otherwise, it is possible to cause the aircraft’s emergency landing or return immediately.

8 . Currently, there are about 480,000 school buses operating today in the United States. These petro-fueled school buses alone contribute 5.3 million tons of climate-changing pollution every year. Replacing all school buses in America with an electric-powered model would be equal to taking 1 million cars off the road, saving millions of tons of pollution annually.

If schools in America were to swap out all of these school buses with electric-powered replacements, it would not only have plenty of environmental benefits, but also many health benefits for the students taking school buses every week.

Not only do these hundreds of thousands of buses have terrible effects on the environment, they also have harmful health consequences for the students riding the bus every day. Approximately 95 percent of school buses run on gas, which is proven to cause respiratory diseases and worsen existing conditions such as asthma.

“Pollution from petro-fueled school buses is harming our children’s health and contributing significantly to global warming,” said Andrea McGimsey, Environment America Global Warming Director. “Our research shows that whether they’re boarding the bus or on the bus, kids are exposed to poisonous air in high concentrations. Electrifying our buses is a common-sense solution for communities across the nation.”

These electric school buses are already available for schools to consider. They are cleaner, healthier, and often cheaper for schools to purchase in place of petrol-fueled buses in the long run. Electric school buses have zero exhaust-pipe emissions, which could help reduce kids’ exposure to poisonous air on a daily basis.

“When we put our kids on a school bus, we rely on these buses for safe transportation,” said Jeff Robinson, director of U. S. PIRG’s transportation program. “We have the technology to avoid these negative influences, so why wouldn’t we drive toward a cleaner future?”

9 . The world's first underground (地铁) was built in London in 1863. At the time, the government was looking for a way to reduce traffic problems. There were so many people living in the poor areas of the city.    1     If people had an easy way to get to and from work, they would live outside of the city and this would help reduce traffic problems in London. As a result, the idea of the London Underground was born.

The plans for building the London Underground met with several problems.    2     A steam train pulled the cars along the first underground track which was six kilometers long.    3    They were treated to comfortable seats inside the cars. However, the smoke from the engine (发动机) soon filled the air in the tunnels (隧道).    4     Even with its problems, riding the underground did become popular. It carried nine million riders in its first year.

Modern underground has come a long way since the early days of the London Underground.     5     Shopping malls built in traffic stations have helped the popularity of the underground. Nowadays many stations include underground department stores, supermarkets and restaurants. Shoppers never have to go above ground!