【正文】 i t al so had wi de streets wi th trees i n rows and ol d French houses. Unl i ke Vi enti ane, shi ps coul d travel the Mekong Ri ver here. In the center of the ci ty we vi si ted the pal ace and a beauti ful white el ephant. It can onl y be seen outsi de the pal ace on speci al days. We ate an earl y supper and went to see a great templ e wi th fl oors made of sl i ver. The next m orni ng our group sl ept l ate. We were very ti red from the l ong bi ke ri de the day before. Cycli ng i n the hil l s had been di ffcuil t. N ow our coui ns had the chance to m ake jokes about Wangwei and m e. Perhaps, they sai d,they were the strong ones!We had l unch at a ni ce outdoor cafe, then rode out of the city. Two days l ater we crossed the border into Vi etnam. We began to see many more peopl e,but I wasn’t surprised . I read in an atl as before our trip that Vietnam has al most seven times the popul ati on of Cam bodi a. We m et a farm er who gave us di recti ons and tol d us that he grows a new ri ce crop four ti mes every year so he can feed m ore e al so tol d us that the northern part of his country has m any m ountai ns and it i s m uch cool er than here i n the south, where i t is fl at. Al though the fl at delta m ade i t easi er for us to cycle. we got warm very qui ckl y. So we drank l ots of water and ate l ots of bananas. Soon the del ta separated i nto ni ne sm al l er ri vers. Two days l ater, after we had passed thousands of ri ce fi el ds, we cam e to the sea. We were ti red but al so i n hi gh spiri ts: our dream to cycl e al ong the Mekong Ri ver had fi nal ly e true. Uni t 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DID’T SLEEP Strange things were hapeni ng i n the countri si de of northest H eBei . For there days the water i n the vil l age wel s rose and fel , rose and fel l. Farm ers noti ced that the wel wal l s had deep cracks in them. A smel y gas cam e out of the cracks. In the farm eryards, the chickens and even the pi gs were too nervous to i ce ran out of the fi el ds l ooki ng for pl aces to hi de. fi sh jum ped out of their bowl s and ponds. At about 3: 00am on Jul y 28,1976, som e peopl e saw bri ght li ghts i n the sky. The sound of the pl anes coul d be heard outsi de the ci ty, who thought l i tl e of these events, were asl eep as usual that ni ght. At3: 42 am everythi ng began to shake. It sem ed as i f the worl d was at an end!El even kil om etres di rectl y bel ow the ci ty the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was fel t in Bei ji ng, whi ch i s more thantwo hundred kil om etres away. O nethird of the nati on felt i t . A huge crack that was ei ght kil om etres l ong and thi rty m etres wi de cut across houses, roads and canal s. Steam burst from hol es in the ground. Hard hi l s of rock becam e ri vers of di rt. In fifteen terri ble seconds a l arge l ay i n rui ns. The sufferi ng of the peopl e was extrem e. Towthi rds of them di ed or were i njured duri ng the earthquake. Thounds of fami li es were kil l ed and m any chi dren were l eft wi thout parents. The num ber of peopl e who were ki l ed or i njured reached m ore than 400, 000. But how coul d the survivors believe it was natural ?Everywhere they l ooked nearl y everything was destroyed. Al of the city’s hospi tals, 75% of i ts factori es and bui l di ngs and 90% of i ts hom es were gone. Bri cks covered the ground li ke red autum n l eaves. N o wi nd, however, could bel ow they away. Two dam s and most of the bri dges al so fel or were not safe for travel ing. The rail way tracks were now usel ess pi eces of steel . Tens of thousands of cows woul d never gi ve mil k agai n. H al f a m il li on pigs and m il li ons of chickens were dead. Sand now fi l ed the wel ls i nstead of water. Peopl e were shocked. Then l ater that afternoon, another bi g quake whi ch was alm ost as strong as the fi rst one shook Tangshan. Som e of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the rui ns. More buil di ngs fel down. Water, food, and el etri city were hard to get. Peopl e began to wongder how l ong the disater woul d last. Al l hope was not l ost. Son after the quakes, the arm y sent 150, 000 soli ders to Tangshan to hel p the rescue workers. H undreds of thousands of peopl e were hel ped. The arm y ani zed team s to di g out those were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the ci ty, m ost of the 10, 000 m i ners were rescued from the coal mi nes there. Workers buil t shel ters for survi vors whose hom es had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the ci ty by trai n, truck and pl ane. Sl owly, the ci ty began to breathe agai n. A SAFE H OME It i s sad but that peopl e di e in earthquakes from fal li ng furni ture and bricks. Earthquake safety i s very im portant and there i s m ore to i t than just keepi ng buil di ngs from fal li ng down. So i f your hom e i s i n an earthquake area,you shoul d prepare careful l y before the earthquake es. Fi rst, m ake sure you buy a house whi ch is earthquake safe. Al pi pes shoul d be fi xed to the wal and al wal l s shoul d be especi al y thi ck and strong. You al so have to make sure that there are bolts underneath your house. They are one of the m ost im portant ways of protecti ng a house. Make sure the buil di ng has no breaken windows and i s wel l repai red. Second ,l ook at the objects in your house. Those i n the li vi ng room , which are the m ost li kel y to hurt us, are puters, tel evisions and l amps. They can be tied to tabl es or them so they won’t easil y move around. The kitchen, which is al so very dangerous, m ust have strong doors on al the cupboards. Thi s i s the pl ace where m any sm al thi ngs are stored that m ight fal down. The water heater shoul d have a case round i t too. Wi ndows are speci al probl em. When they break, glass can cause many acci dents,. It i s better to use safety gl ass if you can, especi al y for pi ctures. Al ways remember:” It is be