Earthquakes Around the Pacific

About 400 earthquakes occur worldwide every day, more than a hundred thousand in a year.

China    1    (situate) in one of the most active earthquake regions in the world and there have been many terrible earthquakes. The most serious    2    these occurred in Hua County in Shaanxi Province in 1556. The earthquake affected eight provinces in Central China. It covered an area of 800 square kilometres. In some communities 60 percent of the population were killed.    3    (total), 830,000 people lost their lives.

The California Earthquake of the 18th of April 1906 is the worst earthquake that has ever happened in the United States. It took place at 5:15 am,    4    lasted for only a minute. However, it caused the worst    5    (nature) disaster in the nation’s history.

Fires caused by the California Earthquake    6    (do) the most damage. The fires burned for three days    7    (destroy) a total of 25,000 buildings. About 500 people were killed in the city of San Francisco and 250,000 were made homeless. In the whole of California the earthquake and fires caused about 3,000    8    (death).

    9    1906 earthquake was caused by a movement on the San Andreas Fault. One hundred years later, movements on the San Andreas Fault continue    10    (cause) problems for the whole of California.

Save the Earth

Without the Earth we have nowhere to live, along with many other organisms. If we don’t save the Earth     1    (active) now, our children or grandchildren might not be able to see it for long. Our atmosphere       2     (weaken) and we have to do something about it quickly.

We could plant more     3     (tree) to create more oxygen to keep the bad air away from the atmosphere,    4     we could just stop cutting down the rainforest. We are living and we need the space but we aren’t the only species on this earth.    5     (save) the rainforest is not only good for the atmosphere but also good for the many different species that the earth provides for     6     (we).

We could try to get as many people as possible to switch to other energy using     7     (little) mineral fuels for energy and relying more on solar and wind energy     8     fossil fuels are destroying our earth and we need     9     (limit) the use of it.

Recycling is one of the simplest ways     10     helps our precious planet. Everyone can help. All they have to do is follow three simple rules: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

The world is precious and we need to keep it that way.

4 . A sand storm often takes place in the northern China,     1    is a kind of natural disasters. China usually experiences this kind of weather between February and May, while March and April see the most frequent and the     2     (strong) sand storms. It becomes a very important environmental problem. It does lots of harm     3    the society as well as the environment.Firstly, the strong wind destroys soil and plant cover by     4     (bury)fields with sand and dust. Secondly, by leaving too much dust in the air it will     5     (serious) pollute the air. Thirdly, a sand storm will have     6    bad effect on transportation. The dust in the air makes traffic and aircraft movements more difficult. And when the sand buries the roads, the traffic will     7     (block). When plants in the farmland are buried, food supply will lose.

Sand storms are another     8     (punish) nature gives to mankind. We should not only take effective measures     9     (stop) them, but also draw some     10     (lesson) from them. We should not develop the economy (经济) at the cost of the natural environment.