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Getting paid for going to work may sound too good to be true, but it's part of an increasingly popular
scheme for commuters across Europe.
Employers in Belgium, the Netherlands and other European countries are rewarding staff if they come
to work on a bicycle, paying them for every kilometer they cycle, all in an effort to promote
environmentalism, not to mention a healthier lifestyle.
In Belgium, cycling commuters are being paid 20 euro cents (29 U. S. cents) per kilometer, whereas
those in the Netherlands can earn 15 cents and participants in Britain up to 20 pence (32 U. S. cents)
per mile-all of it taxfree.
In Belgium, a popular cycling nation and home to fivetime Tour de France and Giro D'Italia winner
Eddie Merckx, finance ministry figures show that more than 270,000 people took part in the scheme last
year, up from 140,000 in 2006.
Last year, that meant the Belgian taxman paid out 43 million euros to those who bill for cycling to
work.
"Higher oil prices and environmental awareness contribute to having more cyclists on the road," said
Dieter Snauwaert, coordinator of the biketowork scheme of the Flemish Cyclists' Union in Belgium.
One of the most successful corporate proponents has been Belgian discount supermarket chain
Colruyt, which launched the policy four years ago and now has 2,100 participants.
Colruyt provides employees who live up to 7 km away from work with a bicycle and takes care of
maintenance.
Company spokesman Victor De Meester said that apart from employees being healthier there were
also other advantages.
"The more people cycle to work the fewer parking spaces you have to offer. It's not so easy,
especially in urban areas, to expand parking spaces," he said.
Colruyt, which has more than 22,000 employees, is now looking to target those who live further away
than 7 km (4.4 miles) by offering electric bicycles to make it easier to negotiate larger distances.
"Our target is 400 participants by 2015 but given the response we have had so far this may be too
low a number," De Meester said.
Colruyt's belief that employees who cycle to work are healthier than their colleagues who don't is
backed up by research from Dutch organization TNO.
The researcher found that over the course of a year, cycling employees on average lose one working
day less due to illness than employees who commute by other means.
If the number of workers who cycle to work increased by one percent, Dutch employers would save
a total of 27 million euros per year, TNO said.

1. Which of the following can be the title of the passage?
A. The Most Successful Supermarket Chain
B. Getting Paid for Cycling to Work
C. Europeans: Enjoying a Healthier Lifestyle
D. Why Cycling Employees Have a Better Body

2. What's the purpose of the scheme?
A. To promote environmentalism.
B. To give money to the staff.
C. To increase the sale of bicycles.
D. To reduce the sale of electric bicycles.

3. Which of the following is NOT the advantage of the scheme?
A. It makes people have healthier bodies.
B. The employers make more profits.
C. It is friendly to our environment.
D. It needs more parking spaces.

4. The money the bicyclers obtain according to ________.
A. the kilometers they cycle
B. the brand of their bicycles
C. the tax they pay
D. the cost of their bicycles

5. What do we know about Belgian discount supermarket chain Colruyt?
A. All its workers are offered bicycles.
B. The charge of the bicycle maintenance is paid by the users.
C. It attaches great importance to the scheme.
D. It has the most participants.

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