Breaking News English

Ten of Japan's famous bullet trains will be [scuppered / scrapped] . They were caught in the floods after Typhoon Hagibis [hit / smacked] eastern Japan in October. The typhoon caused [widely / widespread] damage and loss of life in Japan. There were many photos and TV [feet / footage] of the 10 shiny bullet trains [livened / lined] up next to each other at a train yard near the central city of Nagano. They were deep [in / on] floodwater after the nearby Chikuma River [burst / baste] its banks. The trains used to run [among / between] Tokyo and a city on the Sea of Japan coast called Kanazawa. The line is now running 80 per cent of its [normal / normally] services. The bullet train company said it hopes to be running a full service [against / again] by the end of March 2020.

Bullet trains are called Shinkansen in Japan. They started in 1964 in [time / timed] for the Tokyo Olympics. They became an iconic [symbolic / symbol] of Japan and [was / were] the world's fastest trains. They currently [reach / reached] speeds of 320kph. The bullet train rail network has [explained / expanded] to currently consist of 2,764km. People take around 350 million [hides / rides] a year on the Shinkansen. A Shinkansen president, Yuji Fukasawa, spoke about the flooded trains. He said the floodwater [serious / seriously] damaged their motors and [breaking / braking] systems. The total cost of the damage is around $135 million. He said: "For [stable / stability] and safety, we will replace the trains with newly built ones instead [of / for] repairing them."