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

Injuries anddeaths 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 havestrengthened the city’s buildings and highways, making them more __4__ toquakes.

In the past,making structures quake-resist-ant meant firm yet __5__ materials, such assteel and wood, that bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift abuilding off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the buildingand its foundation to __6__ the impact of ground vibrations. The most __7__designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports, calledsmart buildings, the structures respond like living organisms to anearthquake’s vibrations. When ground shakes and the building tips forward, thecomputer would __8__ the building to shift in the opposite direction. The newdesigns should offer even greater __9__ to cities where earthquakes ofen takeplace.

The new smart structures could be very __10__ to build. However, they would save manylives 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

導(dǎo)讀：

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.(The damage and death toll could have been much worse.此句為虛擬語氣，“地震所造成的傷亡和損失本來應(yīng)該更大。”說明實際上這次地震的損失并不大。)By comparison, an earthquake of similar M)intensity that shook America in 1998 claimed 25,000 victims.(這句的主干是an earthquake...claimed...25,000 victims。)

Injuries and deaths were G)relatively 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, A)changes made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the city’s buildings and highways, making them more I)resistant to quakes.

In the past, making structures quake-resist-ant meant firm yet B)flexible 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 F)reduce the impact of ground vibrations. The most D)recent 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 K)force the building to shift in the opposite direction. The new designs should offer even greater N)security to cities where earthquakes ofen take place.(In the past...,Later...,The most...designs,這里是一個世間順序上的描述，說明了從以前到現(xiàn)在，建筑物的結(jié)構(gòu)一直在不斷變化。)

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

參考答案

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

2.選G)。此處應(yīng)填副詞，用來修飾形容詞less。選項中的副詞有relatively“相對的”和accordingly“相應(yīng)的”，第一段說這次地震和1998年的那次地震程度一樣，但造成的損失卻小很多，再從后句中“高速路上的車輛不是很多”可以推斷：這次的地震造成的“死傷人數(shù)”與1998年比少很多，即少是相對的，故選G)relatively。

3.選A)。空格中要填的詞是本句話中的主語，應(yīng)為名詞。這句話的主干是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，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"說明他們更有抵御風(fēng)險的能力了。選項中的四個形容詞只有resistant符合這個意思，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 "即使彎曲也不會折斷"，說明是有韌性的材料。選項中的四個形容詞只有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"地面震動對建筑物的影響"。選項中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，后者強調(diào)在大小、程度或強度方面下降或減少。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相對應(yīng)的，選項中的形容詞中只有recent可表示時間，the mostrecent desighs“最近的設(shè)計”，在原文中可以對應(yīng)“過去，后來”，故D)為正確答案。

18.選K)。前面提到了智能建筑，這里說明當(dāng)?shù)卣鹗惯@樣的建筑向前倒的時候，電腦會怎樣它，使它相反方向移動。在動詞push和force之間懸著。push強調(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算機系統(tǒng)，故這里force符合文意。

9.選N)。此后應(yīng)填名詞，做動詞offer的賓語。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。抗震型建筑為城市提供的應(yīng)該是更多的安全保障，選項中表示“安全”的詞有safety和security，前者是處于安全狀態(tài)，不受傷害，沒有危險，多用于人身，貨物。后者常指國家社會的免遭戰(zhàn)爭，災(zāi)難而安然無恙，故N)security更符合文意。

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

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