1、Unit9 Lesson1 Return of the white bikes!People have been enjoying the 1._ of cycling in Amsterdam for years. It is a good city for cycling because it is flat and 2._ is convenient for bikes. There are also plenty of places for bicycle parking and most streets in the city centre have a bicycle path.
2、Today some people call Amsterdam the “City of Bicycles” because of the 3._ for bicycles there.In the 1960s, a group of cycling fans had an idea. They believed that it would be better for everybody if cars werent allowed in the city center and only bicycles were. They were hopeful that this would hel
3、p to save energy, 4._ pollution and provide free public transport. The group painted hundreds of bicycles white and 5._ them in lots of neighborhoods around Amsterdam for people to use. Anyone was allowed to take them and use them for short journeys. Wherever someone finished a journey they would 6.
4、_the bike there for someone else to use. The problem was that it didnt work-thieves took all the bicycles 7._ weeks!However, more than thirty years later, the “white bike” is back in town-this time with a computer chip to 8._ its every move! To take a bicycle, you have to insert a special card. The
5、new “white bike” is not 9. _ white but is an unusual design with bright colours. The bikes are parked at special parking places and people who want to use them have to take them to another special parking place that have enough room.There is already less traffic in central Amsterdam, because both 10. _ and tourists have been using the white bikes. Indeed, 11._ the ideas of lots of people, like the cycling fans in the 1960s, many people around the world have been enjoying city centre streets 12._ cars for many years.
