Task 1 - Long reading

Read the following text and answer the 15 questions.

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Santiago is the capital city of Chile, in South America. It is home to 7 million people, and there are over 4 million vehicles on its busy streets. In 2017, a study was done of 390 cities around the world to find which had the worst traffic jams, and Santiago was ranked 10th on the list. So you might not think it would be a great place for cycling. However, there has been an enormous increase in the popularity of cycling in the city. The number of cyclists has been rising by at least 15% every year recently. In 2006, only about 3% of journeys in the city were made by bike, but by 2016 that had doubled to 6%.

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This increase is largely due to the efforts of one man. Gonzalo Stierling Aguayo is the founder of a project to get the people of Santiago cycling more. He persuaded the city’s leaders to ban motor vehicles from the main roads of the city once a week. This means that every Sunday until 2pm the centre of the city becomes a 40-kilometre-long cycle path. About 40,000 people use the roads to cycle, roller skate, skateboard or just walk around the city, free from traffic.

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Gonzalo got the idea from a similar project already in place in Bogota, Colombia. The Santiago city leaders refused to give any money to the project, so it relies completely on sponsorship from local businesses. At first just a few roads were closed, but now seven areas of the city participate. Despite some initial opposition from drivers, most people think the project has made an enormous improvement to the city. Many other South American countries, including Mexico, Venezuela and Peru, have been inspired by its success to start something similar.

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The project transforms Santiago. It not only gives people more opportunity to exercise, but also encourages them to explore the city and mix more with their neighbours. According to Gonzalo, this is the greatest benefit of the project. Santiago is a city where people tend to stay in their own part of town and not have much contact with people in other areas, but cycling has changed this and helped to break down some of the social barriers. This is particularly noticeable in Parque Metropolitano, the largest urban park in South America. Previously, it was mostly used by people living near it in the city centre, but many now cycle there from the outskirts of the city.

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Gonzalo and his team plan to continue expanding the project and eventually to have the whole of the city closed to motor vehicle traffic on Sunday mornings. His dream is that there will be a vehicle-free route from the far north of the city through to the south. He also hopes to have an impact on weekday traffic by encouraging people to use their cycles to get to work. He believes more people should use cycles, not just for recreation, but as an everyday form of transport.