1 . At 5:13 on the morning of April 18th 1906, the city of San Francisco was shaken by a terrible earthquake. A great part of the city was destroyed and a large number of buildings were burnt. The number of people who lost homes reached as many as 250, 000. About 700 people died in the earthquake and the fires.
Another earthquake shook San Francisco on October 17th, 1989. It was America’s second strongest earthquake and about 100 people were killed. It happened in the evening as people were travelling home. A wide and busy road which was built like a bridge over another road fell onto the one below. Many people were killed in their cars, but a few lucky ones were not hurt.
Luckily the 1989 earthquake did not happen in the centre of town but about 50 kilometres away. In one part of the town a great many buildings were destroyed. These buildings were over 50 years old, so they were not strong enough. There were a lot of fires all over the city. The electricity was cut off for several days too.
Why do earthquakes happen? Scientists explain that the outside of the earth is made of a number of different plates. At San Francisco the Pacific plate which is moving towards the northwest meets the North American plate. The Pacific plate is moving very slowly—at 5.3 centimetres a year. Sometimes these two plates stop and do not move for years. Then suddenly, they jump and an earthquake is felt. As a result of the movement of these plates, west America near the sea has always been a bad place for earthquakes. When the 1906 earthquake happened, the Pacific plate jumped 5-6 metres to the north.
Scientists are afraid that one day an even bigger earthquake will hit the area around San Francisco. They call it “The Big One”. However, people today are still building more houses. The population in and around San Francisco is now ten times more than it was in 1906. This means that if there is another big earthquake, a great many houses and buildings will be destroyed.
1. Fewer people were killed in the 1989 San Francisco earthquake because the earthquake happened_______.| A．in the centre of the city | B．in the daytime |
| C．outside the city | D．in the evening |
| A．The 1906 earthquake. | B．The 1976 earthquake. |
| C．The 1989 earthquake. | D．Both A and C. |
| A．Because the surface of the earth is too thin. |
| B．Because some plates of the earth move suddenly. |
| C．Because the houses built on the earth are not strong. |
| D．Because the plates are moving slowly. |
| A．We should learn how to predict earthquakes and stop them. |
| B．We should stop building new houses. |
| C．We should build strong buildings in the right places. |
| D．We should try our best to stop earthquakes. |
| A．Bridge. | B．Road. |
| C．Car. | D．Street. |
2 . Earthquakes are common natural disaster. No matter where you are, knowing how to protect yourself and your family during an earthquake is necessary.
Some expert propose that when you feel the ground is shaking, drop down, take cover under a desk and hold on. Most earthquake injuries are the result of being hit by something falling on you. You should stay indoors until the shaking stops. If you are outdoors, don’t stay near building, trees or power lines. Many people think that in case of an earthquake, they should “get under something” like a doorway or desk, in order to avoid being hurt by falling objects.
Rescue experts now say this is the wrong thing to do. For example, in the 1985 Mexico City earthquakes, they found hundreds of children in schools, crushed by their desks. However, they could have survived by lying in the aisle (通道，走道) next to their desks.
So find a nice piece of furniture, a chair, a sofa, and lie down, or curl up next to it. A falling roof may compact the furniture, but will still leave a space for you to survive next to it. This also holds true if you are in a hotel room, especially at night. Get of the bed, and lie down next to it.
In San Francisco’s 1989 earthquake, the upper freeway fell on the lower one. People who drove along were crushed in their cars. But they had time to get out and lie down next to their cars. Yes, their cars were cashed bur there was space from top to bottom next to the vehicles for people to survive and await a rescue.
Doorways and stairways are very unsafe Slay away from those.
What can we do to keep ourselves safe? Saying calm is the first and most important rule when facing accidents.
1. What should you do first when accidents happen according to this passage?| A．Get under buildings | B．Stay near trees. |
| C．Keep calm | D．Drop down |
| A．“Get under something” can avoid being hurt |
| B．Right earthquake survival tips can save life. |
| C．Earthquakes cause great damage. |
| D．Don’t drive on the upper freeway during an earthquake |
| A．hidden | B．protected |
| C．killed | D．supported |
| A．Lie down next to a strong piece of furniture or a car |
| B．Lie down under a table or desk |
| C．Run out of the house and stay under a big tree. |
| D．Shout out loudly and ask for help |
3 . Surrounded by the sea off the coast in Mid-Norway, lies an island called Myken. This small island has about ten permanent residents, and for more than 50 years has been supplied with electricity via a 32-kilometer undersea cable (电缆). A break that appeared in the cable last autumn resulted in two months without power, so the island community started looking into a better way of sourcing their electricity.
“Myken is far out at sea, so as far as possible it should be taking care of things itself,” says Kyrre Sundseth, who is a hydrogen (氢) researcher in Norway and also the project manager for Myken’s energy project. “This is why we want Myken to become entirely self-sufficient in energy. It is also important to take the environment into consideration,” he says.
Much points to the idea that the solution may lie in a Hydrogen plant, specifically tailored for small islands. The “raw materials” for hydrogen production come from nature itself in the form of the sun and wind. Researchers have calculated that energy costs will be lower by using hydrogen production than the undersea cable option. And it is possible to store energy in the form of hydrogen for longer periods. This means that supplies will not have to rely on a lot of expensive batteries or external energy sources, even during periods when the sun isn’t shining, or the wind isn’t blowing.
The Myken project has attracted several technology companies. They are currently working on a pilot project. The pilot involves experiments on the feasibility (可行性) of the hydrogen system in which electricity is generated from solar and wind sources. The electricity can be used immediately, but during periods when all the energy generated is not required, the spare energy can be used to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen can be stored in a tank, and used later to generate electricity. The pilot will help researchers know more about how effectively the system will work in the hydrogen plant. Since the island has a distillery (酿酒厂), where the distillation (蒸馏) process relies on energy, a hydrogen plant on Myken offers an even greater environmental benefit. Spare heat from the hydrogen system can also be used for the heating part in the distillation process.
“In Norway alone there are about 300 island inhabited all year round by small populations,” says Kyrre Sundseth. “All of these islands may be candidates for using this technology. In global terms we’re talking about 10,000 similar islands.”
1. Why is a hydrogen plant suitable for Myken?| A．It is perfect in size for small islands. |
| B．It can send electricity to faraway places. |
| C．It will restore local natural environment. |
| D．It provides green and sustainable energy. |
| A．The study on the energy storage. |
| B．The test on the hydrogen system. |
| C．The experiment on the raw materials. |
| D．The research on the innovation of the pilot. |
| A．produce purified seawater |
| B．prove more technically reliable |
| C．contribute in more than one way |
| D．benefit from the distillation process |
| A．Promising. |
| B．Systematic. |
| C．Irreplaceable. |
| D．Time saving. |
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further.
Pachauri, who was re-elected the panel’s chairman for a second six-year term last week, said diet change was important because of the huge greenhouse gas emissions (排放) and other environmental problems associated with raising cattle and other animals. “It was relatively easy to change eating habits compared to changing means of transport,” he said.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are produced during the production. For example, ruminants (反刍动物), particularly cows, give off a gas called methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than CO2.
Pachauri can expect some opposite responses from the food industry to his advice, though last night he was given unexpected support by Masterchef presenter and restaurateur John Torode. “I have a little bit and enjoy it,” said Torode. “Too much for any person is bad. But there’s a bigger issue here: where the meat comes from. If we all bought British and stopped buying imported food, we’d save a huge amount of carbon emissions.”
Professor Robert Watson, the chief scientific adviser for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, said government could help educate people about the benefits of eating less meat, but it should not regulate. “Eating less meat would help, there’s no question about that,” Watson said.
However, Chris Lamb, head of marketing for pig industry group BPEX, said the meat industry had been unfairly targeted and was working hard to find out which activities had the biggest environmental impact and reduce them. “Some ideas were contradictory,” he said. “For example, one solution to emissions from cattle and other animals was to keep them indoors, but this would damage animal welfare. Climate change is a very young science and our view is there are a lot of simple solutions being proposed.”
1. What is directly related to global warming?
| A．Consumption of meat. | B．Growth of cattle. |
| C．Methane from ruminants. | D．Processing of meat. |
| A．Rajendra Pachauri. | B．John Torode. | C．Robert Watson. | D．Chris Lamb. |
| A．we should try to keep away from cattle | B．ruminants should not be left outdoors |
| C．the meat industry will soon close down | D．we must do our duty to save the earth |
| A．Less meat, slower global warming |
| B．More animals, more greenhouse gas |
| C．Less imported food, better our environment |
| D．Greater diet change, smaller climate change |
