Strange things were happening in the countryside of northeastern Hebei.For several days，the water in the village wells rose and fell，rose and fell.There were deep c（1）

racks

racks

that appeared in the well walls.At least one well had some s（2）

melly

melly

gas coming out of it.Chickens and even pigs were too n（3）

ervous

ervous

to eat，and dogs refused to go inside buildings.M（4）

ice

ice

ran out of the fields looking for places to hide，and fish jumped out of the water.At about 3：00 a.m.，on 28 July 1976，bright lights were seen in the sky outside the city of Tangshan and loud noises were heard.But the city's one million people were a（5）

sleep

sleep

as usual that night.
    At 3：42 a.m.，everything began to shake.It seemed as if the world were coming to an e（6）

nd

nd

!Eleven kilometres directly below the city，one of the most deadly e（7）

arthquakes

arthquakes

of the -20^th century had begun，a quake that even caused d（8）

amage

amage

more than 150 kilometres away in Beijing.Nearly one third of the whole nation felt it!A huge crack，eight kilometres long and -30 metres wide，cut across houses，roads，and waterways.Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt.In less than one minute，a large city lay in r（9）

uins

uins

.Two thirds of the people who lived there were dead or injured.Thousands of children were left without parents.The number of people who were killed or badly i（10）

njured

njured

in the quake was more than 400，000.