1、ways similar to Laos, although it has twice the population. At another inn, we talked with a teacher who told us that half of the people in her country couldnt read or write. Her village couldnt even afford to build a school, so she had to teach outside under a large tent. When we said goodbye, we a
2、ll felt very lucky to have studied in college.Back on the road, we passed between many hills and forests. Then we came to the plains and entered Phnom Penh,the capital of Cambodia. In many ways it looked like Vientiane and Ho Chi Minh City; it also had wide streets with trees in rows and old French
3、houses.Unlike Vientiane, ships could travel the Mekong River here.In the center of the city we visited the palace and a beautiful white elephant. It can only be seen outside the palace on special days. We ate an early supper and went to see a great temple with floors made of sliver. The next morning
4、 our group slept late. We were very tired from the long bike ride the day before. Cycling in the hills had been diffcuilt.Now our couins had the chance to make jokes about Wangwei and me. Perhaps,they said,they were the strong ones!We had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe,then rode out of the city. Two d
5、ays later we crossed the border into Vietnam. We began to see many more people,but I wasnt surprised .I read in an atlas before our trip that Vietnam has almost seven times the population of Cambodia. We met a farmer who gave us directions and told us that he grows a new rice crop four times every y
6、ear so he can feed more people.He also told us that the northern part of his country has many mountains and it is much cooler than here in the south,where it is flat.Although the flat delta made it easier for us to cycle.we got warm very quickly.So we drank lots of water and ate lots of bananas.Soon
7、 the delta separated into nine smaller rivers.Two days later,after we had passed thousands of rice fields,we came to the sea. We were tired but also in high spirits:our dream to cycle along the Mekong River had finally come true. Unit 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DIDT SLEEP Strange things were happening in t
8、he countriside of northest HeBei.For there days the water in the village wells rose and fell, rose and fell.Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them. A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In the farmeryards,the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous to eat.mice ran out of the
9、fields looking for places to hide.fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds.At about 3:00am on July 28,1976,some people saw bright lights in the sky.The sound of the planes could be heard outside the city,who thought little of these events,were asleep as usual that night. At3:42 am everything began t
10、o shake.It seemed as if the world was at an end!Eleven kilometres directly below the city the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing,which is more thantwo hundred kilometres away. One-third of the nation felt it .A huge crack that was eight kilometres long and thirty met
11、res wide cut across 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 lay in ruins.The suffering of the people was extreme. Tow-thirds of them died or were injured during the earthquake.Thounds of families were
12、 killed and many chidren were left without parents. The number of people who were killed or injured reached more than 400,000. But how could the survivors believe it was natural?Everywhere they looked nearly everything was destroyed. All of the citys hospitals,75%of its factories and buildings and 9
13、0%of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves. No wind, however,could below they away. Two dams and most of the bridges also fell or were not safe for travelling. The railway tracks were now useless pieces of steel. Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again.
14、Half a million pigs and millions of chickens were dead. Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were shocked. Then later that afternoon,another big quake which was almost as strong as the first one shook Tangshan. Some of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the ruins. More b
15、uildings fell down. Water,food, and eletricity were hard to get. People began to wongder how long the disater would last. All hope was not lost. Soon after the quakes, the army sent 150,000 soliders to Tangshan to help the rescue workers. Hundreds of thousands of people were helped. The army organiz
16、ed teams to dig out those were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10,000 miners were rescued from the coal mines there. Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the city by train,truck and plane. Slowly, the city b
17、egan to breathe again. A SAFE HOME It is sad but that people die in earthquakes from falling furniture and bricks. Earthquake safety is very important and there is more to it than just keeping buildings from falling down. So if your home is in an earthquake area,you should prepare carefully before t
18、he earthquake comes. First, make sure you buy a house which is earthquake safe. All pipes should be fixed to the wall and all walls should be especially thick and strong. You also have to make sure that there are bolts underneath your house. They are one of the most important ways of protecting a ho
19、use. Make sure the building has no breaken windows and is well repaired. Second ,look at the objects in your house. Those in the living room,which are the most likely to hurt us, are computers, televisions and lamps. They can be tied to tables or them so they wont easily move around. The kitchen, wh
20、ich is also very dangerous, must have strong doors on all the cupboards. This is the place where many small things are stored that might fall down. The water heater should have a case round it too. Windows are special problem. When they break, glass can cause many accidents,. It is better to use saf
21、ety glass if you can, especially for pictures. Always remember:” It is better to be safe than sorry.” THE STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS By Jack London Never before in history has a city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone. Nothing is left of it but memories and some houses far from the cent
22、re of the city. Its buniness are gone. The factories,hotelsand palace are all gone too. Within an hour after the earthquake, the smoke of SanFrancios fires could been seen 160 kilometres away. The sun is red in the dark sky. There was no stopping the fires. There was no way to organize or communicat
23、e. The steel railway tracks were now useless. And the great pipes for carrying water under the streets had burst. All of the ways man had made to keep the city safe were gone in the thirty second the earth moved. Out at sea it was calm. No wind came up. Yet from every direction-east,weast,north,ands
24、outh,strong winds blew upon the unlucky city. Man himself had to make ruins of the citys best buildings so that they would not be a danger to those in the streets. A list of buildings undesteryed was now only a few addresses. A list of the brave men and the women would fill a library. A list of all
25、those killed will never be made. Amazing as it may seem, Wednesday night was a quiet night. There were no crowds. The policemen saidnothing; even their horses were quit. There were no shouts or people doing crazy things. In all those terrible hours I saw not one woman who cried, not one man who was
26、excited. Before the fires, through the night, thousands and thousands of people who had lost their homes left for safety. Some were covered in blankets. Sometimes whole families put everything they owned and could save into wagons. They helped one another climb the high hills around the city. Never
27、in all SanFrsncios histroy were her people so kind as on that terrible night. Unit 5 Elias story My name is Elias. I am a poor worker in SouthAfrica. The time when I first met Nelson Mandela was a very difficult period of my life. I was twelve years old. It was in 1952 and Mandela was the black lawy
28、er to whom I went for advice. He offered guidance to poor black people on their legal problems. He was generous with his time, for which I was grateful. I needed his help because I had very little education. I began school at six. The school where I studied for only two years was three kilometers aw
29、ay. I had to leave because my family could not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare. I could not read or write well. After trying hard, I got a job in a gold mine. However, this was a time when one had to got to have a passbook to live in Johannesburg. Sadly I did not haveways similar to
30、 Laos, although it has twice the population. At another inn, we talked with a teacher who told us that half of the people in her country couldnt read or write. Her village couldnt even afford to build a school, so she had to teach outside under a large tent. When we said goodbye, we all felt very lu
31、cky to have studied in college.Back on the road, we passed between many hills and forests. Then we came to the plains and entered Phnom Penh,the capital of Cambodia. In many ways it looked like Vientiane and Ho Chi Minh City; it also had wide streets with trees in rows and old French houses.Unlike V
32、ientiane, ships could travel the Mekong River here.In the center of the city we visited the palace and a beautiful white elephant. It can only be seen outside the palace on special days. We ate an early supper and went to see a great temple with floors made of sliver. The next morning our group slep
33、t late. We were very tired from the long bike ride the day before. Cycling in the hills had been diffcuilt.Now our couins had the chance to make jokes about Wangwei and me. Perhaps,they said,they were the strong ones!We had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe,then rode out of the city. Two days later we cr
34、ossed the border into Vietnam. We began to see many more people,but I wasnt surprised .I read in an atlas before our trip that Vietnam has almost seven times the population of Cambodia. We met a farmer who gave us directions and told us that he grows a new rice crop four times every year so he can f
35、eed more people.He also told us that the northern part of his country has many mountains and it is much cooler than here in the south,where it is flat.Although the flat delta made it easier for us to cycle.we got warm very quickly.So we drank lots of water and ate lots of bananas.Soon the delta sepa
36、rated into nine smaller rivers.Two days later,after we had passed thousands of rice fields,we came to the sea. We were tired but also in high spirits:our dream to cycle along the Mekong River had finally come true. Unit 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DIDT SLEEP Strange things were happening in the countriside
37、of northest HeBei.For there days the water in the village wells rose and fell, rose and fell.Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them. A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In the farmeryards,the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous to eat.mice ran out of the fields looking
38、for places to hide.fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds.At about 3:00am on July 28,1976,some people saw bright lights in the sky.The sound of the planes could be heard outside the city,who thought little of these events,were asleep as usual that night. At3:42 am everything began to shake.It seem
39、ed as if the world was at an end!Eleven kilometres directly below the city the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing,which is more thantwo hundred kilometres away. One-third of the nation felt it .A huge crack that was eight kilometres long and thirty metres wide cut ac
40、ross 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 lay in ruins.The suffering of the people was extreme. Tow-thirds of them died or were injured during the earthquake.Thounds of families were killed and man
41、y chidren were left without parents. The number of people who were killed or injured reached more than 400,000. But how could the survivors believe it was natural?Everywhere they looked nearly everything was destroyed. All of the citys hospitals,75%of its factories and buildings and 90%of its homes
42、were gone. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves. No wind, however,could below they away. Two dams and most of the bridges also fell or were not safe for travelling. The railway tracks were now useless pieces of steel. Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again. Half a million
43、pigs and millions of chickens were dead. Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were shocked. Then later that afternoon,another big quake which was almost as strong as the first one shook Tangshan. Some of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the ruins. More buildings fell d
44、own. Water,food, and eletricity were hard to get. People began to wongder how long the disater would last. All hope was not lost. Soon after the quakes, the army sent 150,000 soliders to Tangshan to help the rescue workers. Hundreds of thousands of people were helped. The army organized teams to dig
45、 out those were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10,000 miners were rescued from the coal mines there. Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the city by train,truck and plane. Slowly, the city began to breathe
46、 again. A SAFE HOME It is sad but that people die in earthquakes from falling furniture and bricks. Earthquake safety is very important and there is more to it than just keeping buildings from falling down. So if your home is in an earthquake area,you should prepare carefully before the earthquake c
47、omes. First, make sure you buy a house which is earthquake safe. All pipes should be fixed to the wall and all walls should be especially thick and strong. You also have to make sure that there are bolts underneath your house. They are one of the most important ways of protecting a house. Make sure
48、the building has no breaken windows and is well repaired. Second ,look at the objects in your house. Those in the living room,which are the most likely to hurt us, are computers, televisions and lamps. They can be tied to tables or them so they wont easily move around. The kitchen, which is also ver
49、y dangerous, must have strong doors on all the cupboards. This is the place where many small things are stored that might fall down. The water heater should have a case round it too. Windows are special problem. When they break, glass can cause many accidents,. It is better to use safety glass if you can, especially for pictures. Always remember:” It is better to be safe than sorry.” THE STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS By Jack London Never before in history has a city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone
