【閱讀練習(xí)】

　　After the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1994, earthquake scientists had good news to report: The damage and death toll(死亡人數(shù)) could have been much worse. More than 60 people died in this earthquake. By comparison, and earthquake of similar __1__ that shook America in 1998 claimed 25,000 victims.

　　Injuries and deaths were __2__ less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4:31 a.m. On a holiday, when traffic was light on the city’s highway. In addition, __3__ made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the city’s buildings and highways, making them more __4__ to quakes.

　　In the past, making structures quake-resist-ant meant firm yet __5__ materials, such as steel and wood, that bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation to __6__ the impact of ground vibrations. The most __7__ designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports, called smart buildings, the structures respond like living organisms to an earthquake’s vibrations. When ground shakes and the building tips forward, the computer would __8__ the building to shift in the opposite direction. The new designs should offer even greater __9__ to cities where earthquakes ofen take place.

　　The new smart structures could be very __10__ to build. However, they would save many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.

　　[A]changes

　　[B]flexible

　　[C]decrease

　　[D]recent

　　[E]push

　　[F]reduce

　　[G]relatively

　　[H]safety

　　[I]resistant

　　[J]expensive

　　[K]force

　　[L]accordingly

　　[M]intensity

　　[N]security

　　[O]opposed

　　【答案及詳解】

　　Answers：

　　1.選M)。此處應(yīng)填名詞，作介詞of的賓語(yǔ)，作為后置定語(yǔ)修飾earthquake，說(shuō)明該名詞是“地震”的自然屬性。選項(xiàng)中的名詞有changes，safety，intensity和security，只有intensity可以表示地震的強(qiáng)度，故選M)。

　　2.選G)。此處應(yīng)填副詞，用來(lái)修飾形容詞less。選項(xiàng)中的副詞有relatively“相對(duì)的”和accordingly“相應(yīng)的”，第一段說(shuō)這次地震和1998年的那次地震程度一樣，但造成的損失卻小很多，再?gòu)暮缶渲?ldquo;高速路上的車(chē)輛不是很多”可以推斷：這次的地震造成的“死傷人數(shù)”與1998年比少很多，即少是相對(duì)的，故選G)relatively。

　　3.選A)�？崭裰幸�填的詞是本句話(huà)中的主語(yǔ)，應(yīng)為名詞。這句話(huà)的主干是have strengthened the city’s buildings and highways,從第三段的內(nèi)容和注釋3的解析可知：建筑結(jié)構(gòu)發(fā)生了變化，故應(yīng)選擇A)changes。

　　4.選I)。此處應(yīng)填形容詞，和其前面的more構(gòu)成形容詞的比較級(jí)，描述新型建筑與地震有關(guān)的性能。them = the city’s buildings and highways, have strengthened "被加固"說(shuō)明他們更有抵御風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的能力了。選項(xiàng)中的四個(gè)形容詞只有resistant符合這個(gè)意思，故選I)。

　　5.選B)。此處應(yīng)填形容詞，修飾名詞materials。從后面的...bent without breaking "即使彎曲也不會(huì)折斷"，說(shuō)明是有韌性的材料。選項(xiàng)中的四個(gè)形容詞只有flexible表示“柔韌的，可變形的”，故B)正確。

　　6.選F)。此處應(yīng)填名詞。根據(jù)上下文insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation“在建筑物和地基之間填充橡膠和鋼材”是為了減少the impact of ground vibrations"地面震動(dòng)對(duì)建筑物的影響"。選項(xiàng)中decrease和reduce都可以表示“減少”的意思，前者指穩(wěn)定的逐步地減少，后者強(qiáng)調(diào)在大小、程度或強(qiáng)度方面下降或減少。故F)reduce更符合題意。

　　7.選D)。根據(jù)注釋3，可以推知，這里要填的詞是和前面的In the past, Laer相對(duì)應(yīng)的，選項(xiàng)中的形容詞中只有recent可表示時(shí)間，the most recent desighs“最近的設(shè)計(jì)”，在原文中可以對(duì)應(yīng)“過(guò)去，后來(lái)”，故D)為正確答案。

　　8.選K)。前面提到了智能建筑，這里說(shuō)明當(dāng)?shù)卣鹗惯@樣的建筑向前倒的時(shí)候，電腦會(huì)怎樣它，使它相反方向移動(dòng)。在動(dòng)詞push和force之間懸著。push強(qiáng)調(diào)的是外加的力量，而這里的拖力者是與智能建筑一體的計(jì)算機(jī)系統(tǒng)，故這里force符合文意。

　　9.選N)。此后應(yīng)填名詞，做動(dòng)詞offer的賓語(yǔ)。本句前面一直在描述新型建筑采取的抗震措施，本句是這些措施的結(jié)果�？拐鹦徒ㄖ�為城市提供的��(yīng)該是更多的安全保障，選項(xiàng)中表示“安全”的詞有safety和security，前者是處于安全狀態(tài)，不受傷害，沒(méi)有危險(xiǎn)，多用于人身，貨物。后者常指國(guó)家社會(huì)的免遭戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，災(zāi)難而安然無(wú)恙，故N)security更符合文意。

　　10.選J)。此處應(yīng)填形容詞。從后面的However后的一句說(shuō)明智能建筑的優(yōu)點(diǎn)而得知，However前所說(shuō)的是智能建筑的缺點(diǎn)。既然智能建筑很聰明，又是新事物，那么建造起來(lái)肯定會(huì)耗費(fèi)很多資金的，所以選J)expensive。