Imagine a vehicle that can pick you up outside your home, drive to the nearest railway line, and change itself into a train. It may sound like a story from “Thomas the Tank Engine,”     1     that’s exactly what Japan’s DMV Road-Rail buses have been doing since they    2     (launch) on Christmas Day 2021.

With a capacity of 23, the DMV is a diesel-powered (柴油驱动的) bus fitted with a set of retractable (可缩进的) rail wheels    3    can be put in place in about 15 seconds. Lighter than a traditional train, the DMV also consumes less fuel and is    4     (cheap) to maintain.

    5     (advertise) as “the world’s first operational dual-mode vehicle,” it is actually the latest in a long series of similar experiments    6     (improve) rural rail services. As far back as the 1930s, similar vehicles    7    the DMV were tested in England and West Germany.

Tokushima government hopes that the DMV buses    8       (become) a tourist draw in their own right. It also believes that the vehicles could also be useful for reaching isolated communities in the event of natural    9     (disaster) such as earthquakes, which can leave sections of roads or railway lines    10     (usable).

In 2023, Indonesia started Southeast Asia’s first-ever high-speed rail line that connects two of its biggest cities, Jakarta and Bandung. The $7.3 billion project, largely funded and built by Chinese firms, opened to the public on October 2nd. The builders planned     1     (complete) the project in 2019 but they had to face many operational difficulties and delayed.

Videos taken     2     board and shared on social media showed off the large air-conditioned cabin inside and clear window views of the Indonesian countryside as the train     3     (speed) off. The 142-kilometer high-speed rail line, officially named WHOOSH,     4     stands for “time saving, optimal (优化) operation, reliable system” in Indonesian, runs on electricity with no direct carbon emissions and travels at a speed of     5     (rough) 350 kilometers per hour,     6     (cut) travel time between Jakarta and Bandung from three hours to under     7     (little) than an hour.

The trains, modified for Indonesia’s tropical climate, are equipped with a safety system that can respond to earthquakes, floods and other emergency     8     (condition). The train has eight cars, all equipped with Wi-Fi and USB charging points, and     9     (seat) 601 passengers.

The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway will not only improve Indonesian infrastructure (基础设施)     10     promote the development of Indonesia’s railroad and manufacturing industries.

A freight train loaded with grain from Kazakhstan arrived in Zhangjiakou on Dec 13. It came after a journey     1     passed through the Horgos railway port in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

It was the first freight train from overseas     2    (arrive) in Zhangjiakou since the launch of the China-Europe (Central Asia) route at the end of August, and took 10 days to travel more than 4,000 kilometers.

The government said the train’s arrival signified the     3    (office) opening of the Zhangjiakou section of the route in both directions, enabling two-way trade and establishing an important     4    (found) for the development of Zhangjiakou     5     a multimodal transportation. It also marked     6     significant step forward in constructing a comprehensive international trade corridor in Zhangjiakou, enhancing its level of openness     7     expanding the logistics network around Beijing.

The name of the trains, “Jingzhang”,     8    (combine) characters representing the cities of Beijing and Zhangjiakou. The train to depart from Zhangjiakou left the freight railway station in Xiahuayuan district on Aug 29, carrying 59 containers with 1,322 tons of goods.

As the train network continues to expand, more cities in Hebei, Shijiazhuang, Handan, Langfang and Zhangjiakou     9    (include), are joining the cross-border railway transportation system. Zhangjiakou is becoming part of a comprehensive international trade corridor     10    (follow) the opening of the railway route to Europe and Central Asia.

China’s first domestically made passenger jet (喷气式飞机)     1     (fly) its first successful commercial flight on Sunday,     2     (mark) a milestone in the nation’s decades-long effort to compete with industry giants such as Boeing and Airbus in the global aircraft market.

The C919 plane, carrying about 130 passengers on the flight, was built by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC).     3     (operate) by state-owned China Eastern Airlines, the jet took     4     on Sunday morning from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and landed less than two hours later in Beijing. Passengers received special red boarding passes     5     enjoyed a themed meal to commemorate the flight.

“I’m confident about the plane. The flight was     6     (smooth) than expected,” one of the passengers said.

The flight comes as COMAC seeks     7     (break) into the jet market in a direct challenge to Airbus and Boeing. Airbus’s A320 and Boeing’s B737 jets are the most popular aircraft     8     (typical) used on domestic and regional routes.

The C919,     9     had been in development for 16 years, has a maximum range of about 5,630 kilometers and is designed to carry between 158 and 168 passengers. It made its first flight in 2017 and had conducted numerous test     10     (flight) before Sunday’s first commercial flight. The company plans to build 150 C919 planes each year in the next five years. Over 1,200 C919 jets have been ordered, COMAC says.

During the Tang Dynasty, poet Li Bai wrote a poem about the tough journey to Shu, comparing it to scaling the vast blue sky. The Shu Roads are named     1     the ancient state of Shu. The builders of the expressway     2    (link) Jigzhi County in Qinghai Province to Barkam County in Sichuan Province know how complex it is to build a road in the region.

Extending for 219 kilometers, the expressway lies at     3     height of over 3,300 metres. This means that the annual average temperature is just 1.4°C, and can drop as low as -36℃. Since the construction began in 2020, this extreme climate     4    (limit) work to roughly six months a year. The     5    (hard) section was the 5.5-km Shenzuo tunnel, running through weak and jointed rock masses and     6    (exceptional) complicated land conditions. Ma Kelin, the only female project manager, has learned a tough lesson since she joined the project. It took her over a month     7    (recover) from vomiting and breathlessness.

The expressway, with an     8    (invest) of 30.2 billion yuan, will open to traffic by the end of next year. Many of those     9     live along its length are waiting, expecting it to contribute to economic development. The local authority plans an area of 12 square kilometers for potential     10    (tourist) attracted by the new road.

Think of travel in Greece, and your mind may wander to images of ferries cruising(巡航)across the Aegean Sea. Taking to the water is essential if you plan to travel between the Greek islands, but there     1     (be) plenty of other ways to enjoy Greece’s amazing landscapes, including planes, trains, buses     2     bicycles.

Cycling in Greece is growing in     3     (popular), best done in spring and fall rather than high summer. Strong leg muscles are     4     must to tackle the mountains, or you can stick to some of the     5     (flat) coast roads than the mountain roads. Some are bicycle-friendly, but others have such steep roads     6     cycling is not recommended.

Overall, cycling infrastructure around Greece leaves something to be desired. Bicycle lanes are rare to nonexistent, and there is a real danger from speeding cars —     7     (drive) by locals and tourists alike.

Bicycles may be carried for free on some ferries, while on others, there may be a fee, or they may not be allowed at all because of a lack of space on board.

You can rent bicycles in most tourist hangouts, but they are not as     8     (wide) available as cars and motorcycles. Prices range     9     €10 to €20 per day,     10     (depend) on the type of bicycle. Always make sure the rental cost includes the use of a helmet.

The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway(HSR) started official operation on October 17. It’s the first HSR project that China     1     (independent) completed overseas. It also shows that China and Indonesia have achieved results under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI,”一带一路”倡议).

The railway is called WHOOSH. It’s the first of its kind in Indonesia. The 142.3-kilometer-long line has four stations,     2     (connect) the country’s capital city Jakarta (雅加达) and its fourth largest city Bandung (万隆). For now, 14 trains run between the two cities. The frequency will be increased if market demand     3     (grow).

The railway can carry up     4     600 passengers. It has a top speed of 350 kilometers per hour,     5     cuts the journey between the two cities from 3.5 hour to just 46 minutes. The shorter journey will create more job     6     (opportunity) along the line.

In 2017, Indonesian President Joko Widodo     7     (speak) highly of the BRI. It’s not just empty talk. Instead, it’s a real effort     8     (make) to the world. With the operation of the Jakarta Bandung HSR, a new     9     (economy) zone is taking shape. That is already happening along the China Laos Railway. The China Thailand HSR project is also underway.     10     it’s completed, it will bring more benefits to Southeast Asia and beyond.

Big, heavy vehicles that can’t climb steep hills, running on two steel rails — we’re all familiar with the concept,    1    we call them railways or railroads. Right? However, here’s one of the most unusual railways    2    break the rules in order to reach the places other trains can’t roll: Chongqing Monorail (单轨), China.

Monorails have been around for more than a century,    3    they’ve never quite fulfilled the futuristic promises of those early    4     (promoter). That said, Chongqing Monorail is an     5    (exception) example where the unique qualities offered by monorails are ideally suited to their environment.

Chongqing in China is home to the longest monorail system on the globe, carrying millions of passengers a year on two high-capacity railway lines    6    (total) 61 miles in length. At just over 34 miles, Line 3 is also the    7    (world) longest single monorail line with an annual ridership of around 250 million. Brought into    8    (operate) between 2005 and 2016, the two lines have 70 stations with a mix of underground and elevated sections.

With extreme differences in altitude, Chongqing’s authorities    9    (force) to seek an alternative to conventional trains when they needed to transform its public transport system and monorail’s ability    10    (negotiate) steep climbs and tight bends made it the ideal solution. Finally, Chongqing Monorail emerged.