Notes

A2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
After creating the world’s fastest mode of transport, the French are now returning to something
much more simple, the bicycle (veto in French). On July 15, 2007, 10000 public bicycles were
made available to the residents of Paris, in a new experiment on urban transport.
The basic principle is that nobody owns the cycle, but everybody can borrow one. For €29 and a
deposit of €150, one can subscribe to a year’s access to the cycles. Cycle-stands have been
created outside every metro station in the city. With a magnetic card in hand, one can simply
help oneself to a cycle, use it to ride up to one’s destination and park it at the nearest cycle-stand.
It took three years of negotiations before the experiment was put into place, but one week before
the launch, nearly 8000 Parisians had signed up for a subscription. The city expects to have
nearly 200000 by the end of the year. In the last seven years, Paris has doubled its cycle tracks to
371 km at present.
This emerging new trend has quite a serious impact on urban planning, as rules are changed to
suit a growing population of cyclists. Instead of the motor-car, in some places the cyclists have
priority, allowing them to use one-way streets and even ignore traffic lights.
Finally, it comes down to a personal choice that the French are making. Cycling is good for
one’s health; according to some studies, half an hour of cycling per day can significandy
elongate one’s lifespan, reducing stress and hypertension. It is also an efficient tool of weight
control. On the other hand, a cycle is a non-polluting form of transport, using no fuel and
creating no emissions. Until a few years ago, only 1-5% of Parisians used cycles on a regular
basis. Now more of the urban French population is turning to a mode of transport very common
in rural France.
The region of Arcachon, on the South-West coast of France, offers several landmarks for tourists
but, most of all, it offers an excellent network of cycle routes. These routes, which run along the
sea for almost the entire circumference of the basin, originally formed a railroad track used by
Germans during World War to transport soldiers and men. However, after the war, the railroad
served litde purpose and the path was converted into cycle tracks.
The cycle track that circles the basin is inaccessible to a motor vehicle, however small it may be.
It covers a length of nearly 75 to 80 km and, on a sunny day, one can see people of all ages
cycling.
Cycles are available in most towns on rent for as litde as €2 an hour. A variety of cycles, tandem
bicycles, three-wheelers and cycles with baby carriages, makes it possible for older citizens,
mothers with babies and even the physically challenged, to cycle. To make it easier for tourists,
cycles rented in one town can be returned in another to the same chain of stores.
The enthusiasm to return to the cycle as a form of transport as well as a hobby is not limited to
Arcachon. Gironde also boasts of a network of nearly 600 km of cycle tracks. Bordeaux, the
capital of Gironde, is a university town that gives all students free use of bicycles that belong to
the town. Further North, Nantes offers free raincoats and backpacks to state employees who