辽宁省大连市第三中学2013-2014学年高一下学期期中考试 英语试题
第一部分：阅读理解
A
Every year there are hundreds of earthquakes in different parts of the world. In September, 1923, Tokyo and Yokohama were both destroyed by an earthquake and the fires that followed it. They had to be completely rebuilt. One of the most serious earthquakes was in China’s Shanxi province in 1556. It killed almost one million people.
We measure an earthquake’s strength on the Richter Scale. The Richter Scale was introduced in 1935 in Southern California in the USA. It measures earthquakes on a scale of one to ten. Any earthquake measuring five or more is usually serious.
The Earth’s crust(地壳) is made up of rock called plates. As these plates move, they sometimes crash against each other, causing the crust to quake. In cities such as Tokyo, where small quakes happen quite often, many modern buildings are designed to be flexible so when the Earth moves, they move with it.
Earthquakes can also break up gas and oil pipes. This can cause fires to break out, which can do as much damage as the earthquake itself. Another effect of earthquakes is tsunamis. These are huge waves created by earthquakes beneath the sea. They can be many meters high and cause great damage to coastal towns and cities, China, Japan, Russia and the USA have the highest occurrence(发生) of earthquakes in the world.
21. The passage is mainly about _____ .
A.scientists who study the earthquakes B. a usual natural disaster
C the way of measuring earthquakes D. what people should do in the earthquake
22. The earthquake in Shanxi Province ______, which is NOT true ?
A. happened in 1556 B.killed one million people
C. was the only earthquake in China D. caused a lot of damage
