5、Bicycles for rent could become as common as newspaper
stands and mail boxes on Germany’s street corners if a
scheme launched by Deutsche Bahn is successful.
The German rail operator
has launched a bicycle-hire scheme designed for simple one-way trips.
“It’s a new
concept,”said Andreas Knie, head of the project.
Users must first register
with Call-A-Bike at a cost of 15 euros（US$14.7）. With a simple phone call, they can
hire one of the many bikes parked outside stations, at a cost of 3 to 5 cents
per minute. At the end of their journey, they ring a computer and tell it where
the bike is parked.
The bikes are available 24
hours a day, seven days a week.
No one will be breaking
speed records with Call-A-Bike bicycles. They weigh in at 25 kilograms, at
least double the weight of a normal bicycle, though they do have eight gears（齿轮）.
“They are pretty heavy, but we don’t want people taking them on the train or into the subway,” Knie said.
They are also designed with
parts that do not fit a normal bicycle. Even the screws are irregular and the
bike looks so odd that thieves would stand out.
Vandalism and theft have
led to the downfall of previous schemes which date back to Amsterdam’s 1966“White
Bike”scheme.
In that short-lived
experiment, anti-establishment groups painted bikes white and left them around
the Dutch capital.
However, many were taken
permanently and repainted, while the police took away others on the basis that
ownerless bikes were street rubbish.
Copenhagen, Vienna and
Helsinki also have free bike schemes, in which users deposit a coin in
Copenhagen’s case 20
crowns（US$2.50）—to free a bike
from a rack.
“The advantage these schemes have is
ease of use. But because they’re so cheap, people tend
to hold on to the bikes and then there are none on the streets,”the person in charge said.
Oslo is also planning a
bike-hire system where users will pay a symbolic fee of 50 Norwegian crowns（US$6.50）for
unlimited use in the city for a year.
Users will buy an
electronic identity card as a key that will register when the bike is parked or
taken from a rack.
1. How many European countries
have already launched the free bike schemes?
A.
Four.
B.
Five.
C.
Six.
D. Seven.
2.What can be learned about
Amsterdam’s 1966“White Bike”scheme?
A. The bicycles were twice as
heavy as a normal bicycle.
B. A heavy rain stopped the scheme
from being carried out.
C. Some bicycles were damaged or
stolen and the scheme failed.
D. The police ended the scheme for
traffic safety
3. What can be inferred from the
text?
A. Bicycles for rent have become
as common as newspaper stands and mail boxes on Germany’s street corners.
B. The bikes in Germany are
available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
C. German bicycles for rent are
designed specially so that they will draw people’s attention.
D. Germany has taken some measures
to stop the bicycles for rent from being taken away.
4. Which do you think is the best
title?
A. Free Bicycles for
Europeans.
B. Tough Transporters.
C. Customer is
King.
D. Unpractical Scheme.