Strange things were happening in the countryside of northeast Hebei. For three days the water in the village wells kept rising and 【小题1】 (fall). Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in 【小题2】. A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In 【小题3】 farmyards, the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous 【小题4】 (eat).【小题5】 (mouse) ran out of the fields 【小题6】 (look) for places to hide. Fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds. At about 3:00 am 【小题7】 July 28, 1976, some people saw bright lights in the sky. The sound of planes could 【小题8】 (hear) outside the city of Tangshan even when no 【小题9】 (plane) were in the sky. In the city, the water pipes in some buildings cracked and burst. But the one million people of the city, 【小题10】 thought little of these events, were asleep as usual that night.

Strange things happened 【小题1】Tangshan Earthquake happened.The well walls had deep cracks. Some 【小题2】(smell) gas came out of them. Chickens and even pigs were too nervous 【小题3】(eat). The water pipes cracked and burst. At 3:42 【小题4】the morning of July 28, 1976, everything began to shake. 【小题5】seemed as if the world was at an end. Steam burst from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. Soon the whole city lay in 【小题6】(ruin). Many people died or were 【小题7】(injure). Everything in the city was destroyed. People were 【小题8】(shock) at this and wondered how long the disaster would last. The army organized teams to dig out those 【小题9】were trapped and to bury the dead. Workers built shelters for survivors. Fresh water was taken to the city. Slowly the city began to breathe again.With strong support from the government and the tireless efforts of the city's people, a new Tangshan 【小题10】(build) upon the earthquake ruins.

A violent earthquake struck Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday 24 February, 2003, 【小题1】killed as many as 240 people and injured 600,【小题2】(leave) tens of thousands of more homeless.

Luckily, the earthquake happened in the daytime after people had already left home【小题3】work or school. Many people【小题4】( save )because they were outside. Fortunately, all the school children were taking part in 【小题5】 ceremony in the street and many adults were working in the fields when it struck.

“My family had just finished breakfast when the house started shaking and we heard a loud noise. I 【小题6】(immediate) pushed my grandchildren out of the door to safety before the house fell down.” said a local woman. Sadly, her neighbors were 【小题7】(little) lucky: both parents died while their three children were seriously injured.

Fortunately, rescue workers 【小题8】 (arrive) very quickly. By Tuesday most of the injured had received medical care or had gone to hospital, and by Wednesday thousands of tens, camp beds and warm quilts had arrived and all the【小题9】(survivor) had somewhere to sleep. The next step was【小题10】( bring ) drinking water supply and electricity back to normal as soon as possible.