Alton Tower Rescue

A woman __________ (1) by rope from a cable car stranded over a 30 m ravine at the Alton Tower leisure complex yesterday.

She was __________ (2) 28 people who were rescued from three cars after the one in which she was __________ (3) became tangled with a communication cable in ___________ (4) winds. A computerised ___________ (5) system halted the 40-car Sky Ride, and some passengers were trapped ___________ (6) more than two hours.

The emergency services practised the ____________ (7) rescue at Alton Towers two weeks ago, with staff acting as ___________ (8) passengers.

A man in a wheelchair was lowered to safety by ___________ (9), who dropped a rope to the ground after getting to the car with ___________ (10) equipment.

Exercise 13. Fill the gaps in the text with the suitable word from the box. Each word can be used only once.

biggest climb desperately down had inside kept passengers taking thrill

Skyride to terror

The _________ (1) of the fair turned to horror for 27 Easter trippers on a skyride yesterday.

Terrified __________ (2) were stranded in mid-air above a 30 m ravine for an agonizing two hours after their cable cars had come to a halt at Britain's ________ (3) amusement park.

A small child who clung __________ (4) to his rescuer was among the frightened holidaymakers who had be lowered by ropes in the strong winds.

His mother broke ___________ (5) in tears as they were reunited in the ambulance ___________ (6) them from Alton Towers, Staffordshire.

Rescue hero Mark Symonds ___________ (7) to crawl along the cable to reach the cars. He battled with the high winds to ___________ (8) down a ladder into the stranded cable car.

Mark, 25, said afterwards: "The people ___________ (9) were obviously very relieved to see me." One weeping girl said: "I thought we'd never get down. I ___________ (10) thinking we were going to die."

Exercise 14. Fill the gaps in the text with the suitable word from the box. Each word can be used only once.

contributes much

dangerous own

fact solve

fined themselves

growing up

Bin Your Rubbish

When was the last time you walked down a litter-free street? Although millions of pounds are spent on cleaning rubbish every year, this alone cannot __________ (1) the problem. The solution lies in our hands.

Dropping litter is, in ___________ (2), against the law in Britain. You can be ___________ (3) up to 1,000 pounds. Not only is litter ugly, but it can also be _________ (4). Litter encourages vermin such as rats. Why is there so _________ (5) litter? Most consumer products are over-packed, a single item can be wrapped in plastic, put in a box, wrapped in cellophane and then put in a plastic carrier bag.

What can we do about this ___________ (6) problem? If every citizen does his or her job, together we can clean ___________ (7) the streets. Try recycling paper and plastic bottles. Never drop litter; even the smallest piece of paper __________ (8) to the problem. Avoid buying over-packed items from the supermarkets, and take your ____________ (9) carrier bags. You could also organize day-trips to the local countryside and beaches in order to pick up rubbish. If everyone make _____________ (10) responsible for maintaining high standards of cleanliness in their area, the problem may be solved.

Exercise 15. Fill the gaps in the text with the suitable word from the box, Each word can be used only once.

almost avoiding certain convenience even necessary space pollution traffic yourself

There are many things you can do in order to reduce __________ (1) levels in the city. Firstly, to decrease the amount of ___________ (2) on the streets, you should ask yourself whether or not your car journey is really __________ (3). It could be cheaper and healthier to walk. As a matter of fact, it could be __________ (4) quicker, owing to the amount of traffic at _________ (5) times of the day.

Alternatively, you could use public transport, thus ____________ (6) the stressful experience of driving in the city and at the same time freeing ___________ (7) from the time-consuming necessity of finding a parking ___________ (8). However, when it comes to speed, health and ____________ (9), neither walking nor the public transport system can compare with the simple bicycle. Not only has it been proven to be faster than a car for most city journeys, but also you can park it ___________ (10) anywhere providing that you lock it securely.

Exercise 16. Fill the gaps in the text with the suitable word from the box. Each word can be used only once.

atmosphere weather

on fuel

exhaust recycling

greenhouse environmental

energy resources