At 3:42 a.m. everything began to shake. It seemed as if the world was at an end! Eleven kilometres     1    (direct) below the city, the    2    (great) earthquake of the 20th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing,     3    is more than two hundred kilometres away. One-third of the nation felt it. A huge crack that was eight kilometres long and thirty metres wide cut       4       houses, roads and canals. Steam burst from holes   in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. In fifteen terrible seconds a large city       5     (lie) in ruins. The       6     (suffer) of the people was extreme. Two-thirds of       7     (they) died   or were injured during the earthquake. Thousands of families were killed and many   children were         8     (leave) without parents.

    9     number of people who were killed or injured reached more than 400,000. Then, later that afternoon, another big quake shook Tangshan. More buildings fell down. Water, food, and electricity were hard     10    (get). People began to wonder how long the disaster would last.