than 400,000. But h ow could th e s urvivors believe it was natural?Everywher e they looked nearl y ever ything was d estroyed. All of the city’s h ospitals,75%of its factories and buildings and 90% of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves. No wind, however,could below th ey away. Two dams and most of th e brid ges also fell or were not safe for travelling. The railway tr acks wer e now us eless pieces of st eel. Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again. Half a million pigs and millions of chickens were dead. Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were shocked. Then l ater that afternoon,another big quake which was almost as strong as th e first one shook Tangshan. S ome of the rescue workers and doct ors were trapped und er th e ruins. More buildings fell down. Water,food, and eletricity were hard to get. People b egan to wongder h ow long th e dis ater would last. All hope was not l ost. Soon after the quakes, the ar my sent 150,000 soliders to Tangshan to h elp the rescue workers. Hundreds of thousands of people wer e h elped. The army or ganized t eams to dig out those wer e trapped and t o bur y the dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10,000 miners were r escued from the coal mines there. Work ers built sh elters for survivors whose h omes had b een d estroyed. Fresh water was t aken t o the city by train,truck and plane. Slowly, th e city b egan to breathe again. A SAFE HOME It is sad but that people die in earthquak es fr om fall ing furniture and bricks. Earth quake safety is very important and there is more to it than just keeping b uild ings from fall ing down. So if your home is in an earthquake ar ea,you should pr epare careful ly b efore the earthquake comes . First, make sure you b uy a house which is earthquake safe. A ll pipes should be fixed t o the wall and all walls should be especially thick and strong. You also have t o make sure that there are bolts und erneath your house. They ar e one of the most important ways of prot ecting a h ouse. Make sure th e building has no br eaken wind ows and is well repair ed. Second ,look at th e ob jects in your h ous e. Thos e in the living room,which ar e th e most l ikely to hurt us, ar e computers, televis ions and lamps. They can be tied to tables or them so they won’t easily move around. The kitchen, which is also ver y dangerous , must have strong doors on all th e cupb oards. This is th e place wher e many smal l things are stored that might fall down. The water h eater should have a cas e round it t oo. Windows are special probl em. When they break, gl ass can cause many accid ents,. It is better t o use safety glass if you can, especially for pictures. Always rememb er:” It is bett er to be safe than sorry.” THE STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS By Jack London Never before in hist ory has a city b een s o completel y destroyed. San Francis co is gone. Nothing is left of it b ut memories and some houses far from th e centre of th e city. Its buniness are gone. Th e factories ,hotelsand palace are all gone too. Within an h our after the earth quake, the smoke of SanFrancio’s fires could b een s een 160 kilometres away. The sun is red in the dark sky. Ther e was no stopping the fir es. Th ere was no way t o organize or communicat e. The steel railway tracks were now usel ess. And th e great pipes for carrying water und er th e streets had b urst. All of the ways man had mad e t o 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,andsouth,strong winds b lew upon the unlucky city. Man himself had to make ruins of th e city’s best build ings so that they would not be a danger t o thos e in the streets. A list of b uild ings und ester yed was now only a few addresses. A list of the brave men and the women would fill a library. A l ist of all thos e kil led will never b e made. A mazing as it may seem, Wednesday night was a quiet night. Th ere wer e no cr owds. Th e pol icemen saidnoth ing; even their horses wer e quit. Th ere w ere no shouts or people doing crazy things. In all thos e terrible hours I saw not one woman who cried, not one man who was excited. Before the fir es, thr ough th e night, thousands and thousands of people who had lost their homes left for safety. Some were covered in blankets. Sometimes whole famil ies put everything they owned and could save into wagons. They helped one another climb the high hills around th e city. Never in all SanFrsncio’s histr oy were her people so kind as on that t erribl e night. Unit 5 Elias’ story My name is El ias. I am a poor worker in SouthAfr ica. Th e time when I first met Nelson Mandel a was a very difficult period of my l ife. I was twelve years old. It was in 1952 and Mandel a was th e bl ack lawyer to whom I went for advice. He offered guidance to poor black people on their l egal probl ems. He was generous with his time, for which I was grateful. I needed h is help becaus e I had very little education. I b egan s chool at six. The school wh ere I studied for only two years was thr ee kilomet ers away. I had t o leave because my family could not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare. I could not read or writ e well. After trying hard, I got a job in a gold mine. How ever, this was a time when one had to got to have a passb ook to live in Johannesburg. S adly I did not have than 400,000. But h ow could th e s urvivors believe it was natural?Everywher e they looked nearl y ever ything was d estroyed. All of the city’s h ospitals,75%of its factories and buildings and 90% of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves. No wind, however,could below th ey away. Two dams and most of th e brid ges also fell or were not safe for travelling. The railway tr acks wer e now us eless pieces of st eel. Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again. Half a million pigs and millions of chickens were dead. Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were shocked. Then l ater that afternoon,another big quake which was almost as strong as th e first one shook Tangshan. S ome of the rescue workers and doct ors were trapped und er th e ruins. More buildings fell down. Water,food, and eletricity were hard to get. People b egan to wongder h ow long th e dis ater would last. All hope was not l ost. Soon after the quakes, the ar my sent 150,000 soliders to Tangshan to h elp the rescue workers. Hundreds of thousands of people wer e h elped. The army or ganized t eams to dig out those wer e trapped and t o bur y the dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10,000 miners were r escued from the coal mines there. Work ers built sh elters for survivors whose h omes had b een d estroyed. Fresh water was t aken t o the city by train,truck and plane. Slowly, th e city b egan to breathe again. A SAFE HOME It is sad but that people die in earthquak es fr om fall ing furniture and bricks. Earth quake safety is very important and there is more to it than just keeping b uild ings from fall ing down. So if your home is in an earthquake ar ea,you should pr epare careful ly b efore the earthquake comes . First, make sure you b uy a house which is earthquake safe. A ll pipes should be fixed t o the wall and all walls should be especially thick and strong. You also have t o make sure that there are bolts und erneath your house. They ar e one of the most important ways of prot ecting a h ouse. Make sure th e building has no br eaken wind ows and is well repair ed. Second ,look at th e ob jects in your h ous e. Thos e in the living room,which ar e th e most l ikely to hurt us, ar e computers, televis ions and lamps. They can be tied to tables or them so they won’t easily move around. The kitchen, which is also ver y dangerous , must have strong doors on all th e cupb oards. This is th e place wher e many smal l things are stored that might fall down. The water h eater should have a cas e round it t oo. Windows are special probl em. When they break, gl ass can cause many accid ents,. It is better t o use safety glass if you can, especially for pictures. Always rememb er:” It is bett er to be safe than sorry.” THE STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS By Jack London Never before in hist ory has a city b een s o completel y destroyed. San Francis co is gone. Nothing is left of it b ut memories and some houses far from th e centre of th e city. Its buniness are gone. Th e factories ,hotelsand palace are all gone too. Within an h our after the earth quake, the smoke of SanFrancio’s fires could b een s een 160 kilometres away. The sun is red in the dark sky. Ther e was no stopping the fir es. Th ere was no way t o organize or communicat e. The steel railway tracks were now usel ess. And th e great pipes for carrying water und er th e streets had b urst. All of the ways man had mad e t o 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,andsouth,strong winds b lew upon the unlucky city. Man himself had to make ruins of th e city’s best build ings so that they would not be a danger t o thos e in the streets. A list of b uild ings und ester yed was now only a few addresses. A list of the brave men and the women would fill a library. A l ist of all thos e kil led will never b e made. A mazing as it may seem, Wednesday night was a quiet night. Th ere wer e no cr owds. Th e pol icemen saidnoth ing; even their horses wer e quit. Th ere w ere no shouts or people doing crazy things. In all thos e terrible hours I saw not one woman who cried, not one man who was excited. Before the fir es, thr ough th e night, thousands and thousands of people who had lost their homes left for safety. Some were covered in blankets. Sometimes whole famil ies put everything they owned and could save into wagons. They helped one another climb the high hills around th e city. Never ...
