Improve living conditions. Your summary should be about 100 words long (and no more than 120 words long). You should
use your own words as far as possible.
You will receive up to 6 marks for the content of your summary and up to 5 marks for the style and
accuracy of your language.

Until recently, the long hot summers in Rajshahi used to be made a lot worse for the locals, because
they had to keep their windows shut - not because of the wind or monsoon rains, but because of
the poor air quality.

Dust from the roads all around the city was one of the main contributors. That, and the smoke and
chemicals produced by the brick-making industry, made Rajshahi one of the world's most polluted
cities. However, Rajshahi has managed to improve things so dramatically that the cíty has made
the headlines. According to United Nations data, the Bangladeshi city did more than any other city
in the world to get rid of these air particles that cause pollution and are so bad for human health.

Most of the inhabitants are too poor to own cars, which normally cause air pollution in many
other cities. Instead, it was the effort made to clean up the city's brick kilns, where the bricks are
baked, that was partly to thank for the achievement. Levels of the larger air particles went from
195 micrograms per cubic metre in 2014 to 63.9 in 2016, a reduction of about two-thirds. Levels of
the smaller air particles were nearly halved from 70 to 37 micrograms per cubic metre, the second
highest reduction of any city in the world.

Many of the city's inhabitants remember having to close windows and doors to stop a thin layer of dirt
appearing on every surface in their house. Even today, with air quality dramatically improved, there
is still so much dust in the air that city officials are unable to go ahead with the idea of introducing
solar panels. They fear that dust will settle on the panels and prevent them from generating power
within weeks. Nevertheless, air quality has been transformed. One reason for this is that there is
a "zero-soil' programme in the city, which means that no part of the ground should be bare earth.
Instead, to reduce the amount of dust kicked up by people and vehicles, the city has been made
greener by planting grass, flowers and trees wherever possible.

City officials began looking at transport in 2004, when they imported many battery-powered
rickshaws from China. These three-wheeled vehicles are the main form of public transport, and
their batteries keep the air clean. There was also a ban on large lorries from the city centre, which
added to the improvement of air quality, keeping the air free of petrol and diesel fumes.

One city official became convinced that the city needed more pavements, after looking into urban
planning in other countries. Previously, the sides of most city roadss were dusty and broken, making
them dangerous and unappealing to walk along. So far, 15 kilometres of pavements have been
added, and there are plans for more. Apart from encouraging a healthier lifestyle, the pavements
help to control the dust in the air. There are also plans to introduce cycle lanes in the future,
although the high temperatures in the summer mean that this mode of transport may not be the
most popular.

People are now proud of their city, and have started looking after it more. One resident, who spent
over ten years working in Europe, reported how much it had changed. "I was worried l'd find it hard
to live here after so much time abroad. But I came back to find the city has been transformed."