In the past hundred years, a million people have died in earthquakes, another million have been killed by hurricanes and tornadoes, and 9 million have lost their lives in floods. In addition to this, many millions have died as a result of hunger and disease. We should also not forget in many of the world's countries, drought—serious water shortage—is a fact of life, especially in the African Sahel area bordering the Sahara Desert.
Scientists and engineers around the world have made great advances in earthquake engineering. It is, of course, physically impossible to move cities such as Tokyo and San Francisco that have been built on earthquake belts. But most often it is not the earthquake that kills people. It is the falling buildings, bridges and so on that cause deaths, and such a happening can be greatly reduced by better building programs.
Finally, perhaps we need to consider the natural disasters that we are causing ourselves. Through our mismanagement of the planet's resources we have sped up the dying out of hundreds of sorts of plants and animals, at the same time possibly destroying our own long-term surroundings for life. Maybe this is one disaster that could be prevented if we are willing to act with a sense of responsibility.
【小题1】How many people have been killed in natural disasters in the past 100 years?
| A．1 million. | B．9 million. |
| C．More than 11 million. | D．More than 1 million. |
【小题2】Which of the following has killed people directly according to the passage?
| A．None of the below. | B．Earthquakes and floods. |
| C．Hurricanes and tornadoes. | D．Floods and water shortage. |
【小题3】According to the text, we can say that________.
| A．nothing can be done with earthquakes |
| B．earthquake can be prevented from happening |
| C．cities built on earthquake belts can be moved in time |
| D．losses and deaths caused by earthquakes can be reduced with human efforts |
【小题4】What does the underlined "
one disaster" in the last paragraph refer to?
| A．Earthquakes. | B．The text doesn't tell us. |
| C．All of the disasters mentioned. | D．Man's mismanagement of natural resources. |
