【正文】 i t al so had wi de strets wi th trees in rows and ol d French houses. Unl ike Vi enti ane, shi ps coul d travel the Mekong Ri ver here. In the center of the city we visi ted the pal ace and a beauti ful whi te 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 tem pl e wi th fl ors m ade of sli ve。 i t al so had wi de strets wi th trees in rows and ol d French houses. Unl ike Vi enti ane, shi ps coul d travel the Mekong Ri ver here. In the center of the city we visi ted the pal ace and a beauti ful whi te 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 tem pl e wi th fl ors m ade of sli ver. The next m orni ng our group slept l ate. We were very ti red from the l ong bi ke ri de the day before. Cycl i ng i n the hi l s had been di ffcui l 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 ci ty. Two days l ater we crosed the border into Vietnam. We began to see many more people,but I wasn’t surprised . I read in an atlas before our trip that Vi etnam has alm ost seven ti m es the popul ati on of Cam bodi a. We m et a farm er who gave us directi ons and tol d us that he grows a new ri ce crop four tim es every year so he can feed m ore peopl e al so tol d us that the northern part of hi s country has many m ountai ns and i t i s m uch cool er than here i n the south, where it i s fl at. Al though the fl at delta m ade it 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 came to the sea. We were ti red but al so i n hi gh spi ri ts: our dream to cycl e along the Mekong Ri ver had fi nal y e true. Unit 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DID’T SLEEP Strange thi ngs were happeni ng i n the countri si de of northest H eBei. For there days the water i n the vil lage wel ls rose and fel l, rose and fel . Farm ers noti ced that the wel wal s had deep cracks i n them. A sm el y gas came 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 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 li ttl e of these events, were asl ep as usual that night. At3: 42 am everythi ng began to shake. It seem ed as i f the worl d was at an end!El even ki lom etres di rectl y bel ow the ci ty the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was fel t in Bei jing, whi ch i s m ore 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. H ard hil l s of rock becam e ri vers of di rt. In fi fteen terri bl e seconds a l arge lay 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 fam il i es were kil l ed and m any chi dren were left 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 bel ieve it was natural ?Everywhere they l ooked nearl y everything was destroyed. Al l of the city’s hospi tal s, 75% of i ts factori es and buil di ngs and 90% of i ts hom es were gone. Bri cks covered the ground l i ke red autum n l eaves. N o wi nd, however, coul d bel ow they away. Two dams and m ost 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 m il k agai n. H al f a m il li on pi gs and m il li ons of chi ckens were dead. Sand now fil ed the wel s i nstead of water. Peopl e were shocked. Then l ater that afternoon, another bi g quake which was al m ost as strong as the fi rst one shook Tangshan. Some of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the rui ns. More buil di ngs fel l down. Water, food, and eletri ci ty were hard to get. Peopl e began to wongder how l ong the di sater woul d l ast. Al hope was not l ost. Soon 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 city, m ost of the 10, 000 mi ners were rescued from the coal m i nes there. Workers buil t shel ters for survi vors whose homes had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the ci ty by trai n,truck and pl ane. Sl owl y, 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 bri cks. Earthquake safety is very im portant and there i s m ore to it than just keeping bui l di ngs from fal ing down. So if your hom e i s in an earthquake area, you shoul d prepare careful y before the earthquake es. Fi rst, m ake sure you buy a house which i s earthquake safe. Al pi pes shoul d be fi xed to the wal and al wal l s shoul d be especi al ly thi ck and strong. You al so have to m ake sure that there are bol ts underneath your house. They are one of the m ost im portant ways of protecting a house. Make sure the bui l di ng has no breaken wi ndows and i s wel repai red. Second ,l ook at the objects i n your house. Those i n the li vi ng room , whi ch are the m ost li kel y to hurt us, are puters, tel evi si ons and l am ps. They can be ti ed to tabl es or them so they won’t easil y move around. The kitchen, which is al so very dangerous, mus