2017年6月大学英语四级模拟试题（2）

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Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)

Earthquake

Can Scientists Predict Killer Earthquakes?

The date was November 23, 1980. People near Naples, in southern Italy, felt the Earth roll and shake. Earthquake! Suddenly buildings came tumbling down. Cracks appeared in the earth. Within minutes, entire towns were destroyed. Thousands of people were dead. Thousands more were injured。

As rescuers searched through the rubble, many people must have wondered, of only the victims had known ahead of time, many lives could have been saved。

Actually, an Italian scientist did predict that such a quake would happen. In 1977 Dr. M. Caputo of the Universite Degiles Studi in Rome warned that a large quake would soon strike the east of Naples. Unfortunately, he couldn’t predict the exact time and date of the quake。

Dr. Caputo made his general prediction after talking with scientists at 54 earthquake monitoring stations throughout Italy. He learned that many earthquakes had recently rocked different areas around Naples. But none had occurred in one particular spot east of Naples for many years. Dr. Caputo felt that the area was long overdue for a large quake. And it was。

Earthquake Strikes in Gap

The quake occurred in a region that Dr. Caputo called a seismic gap. A seismic gap is an area in an active earthquake region where no earthquake or seismic activity has been recorded in a long time. Seismic gaps are located where two large plates in the Earth have become stuck。

When the plates slide past each other, they sometimes became locked in place. A similar thing happens when you make a running leap on a sidewalk while wearing sneakers. When you land on both feet, the sneakers grab onto rough surface. Friction tends to hold your feet back while the rest of your body goes forward. You may end up falling flat on your face。

In the case of plates, however, the uneven surfaces between the plates cause the plates to remain locked in place for years. Huge pressure builds up behind each plate. Periodically, a shudder, or tremor, is recorded as some of this energy is released。

Finally, after about 50 years, rock in the seismic gap either suddenly breaks or moves under the great stress. This sudden release of energy sends shock waves through the rock layers above. The ground shakes, sidewalks crack, and buildings tumble. A mighty quake has struck。

Gaps Used To Predict Quakes

Many geologists have used what is called the seismic gap technique to accurately predict earthquakes. The technique was first developed by Soviet earthquake expert Dr. V. Fodotov during his studies of ancient and recent Japanese earthquakes. Dr. Fodotov was marking the location, size, and date of all known quakes in Japan when he noticed a striking pattern。

All major earthquakes were found to occur in only a few isolated spots in Japan. Each of these spots, he noted, experienced a major quake only once every 50 to 60 years. Dr. Fodotov concluded that spots that hadn?t had a quake in more than 50 years were “ripe” for a quake. The Russian scientist named these locations seismic gaps。

In the past several years, geologists from other countries have found seismic gaps in other parts of the world. After making detailed studies of past quakes in these regions, the geologists were able to make an accurate prediction of when a quake would occur。

How Do Animals Know When an Earthquake Is Coming?

Scientists who try to predict earthquakes have gotten some new helpers recently—animals。

That’s right, animals. Scientists have begun to catch on to what farmers have known for thousands of years. Animals often seem to know in advance that an earthquake is coming, and they show their fear by acting in strange ways. Before a Chinese quake in 1975, snakes awoke from their winter sleep early only to freeze to death in the cold air. Cows broke their halters and tried to escape. Chickens refused to enter their coop. All of this unusual behavior, as well as physical changes in the earth, alerted Chinese scientists to the coming quake. They moved people away from the danger zone and saved thousands of lives。

One task for scientists today is to learn exactly which types of animal behavior predict quakes. It’s not an easy job. First of all not every animal reacts to the danger of an earthquake. Just before a California quake in 1977, for example, an Arabian stallion became very nervous and tried to break out of his stall. The horse next to him, however, remained perfectly calm. It’s also difficult at times to tell the difference between normal animal restlessness and “earthquake nerves”. A zoo keeper once called earthquake researchers to say that his cougar had been acting strangely. It turned out that the cat had an upset stomach。

A second task for scientists is to find out exactly what kind of warnings the animals receive. They know that animals? sense far more of the world than humans do. Many animals can see, hear, and smell things that people do not even notice. Some can detect tiny changes in air pressure, gravity, or the magnetism of Earth. This extra sense probably helps animals predict quakes。

A good example of this occurred with a group of dogs. They were penned up in an area that was being shaken by a series of tiny earthquakes. (Several small quakes often come before or after a large one。) Before each quake a low booming sound was heard. Each boom caused the dogs to bark wildly. Then the dogs began to bark during a silent period. A scientist who was recording tile quakes looked at his machine. It was acting as though there were a loud noise too. The scientist realized that the dogs had reacted to a booming noise. They also sensed the tiny quake that followed it. The machine recorded both, though humans felt and heard nothing。

In this case there was a machine to monitor what the dogs were sensing. Many times, however, our machines record nothing out of the ordinary, even though animals know a quake is coming. The animals might be sensing something we so measure but do not recognize as a warning. Discovering what animals sense, and learning how they know it is a danger signal, is a job for future scientists。

1.Since no one had predicted the precise date of the earthquake striking east of Naples, people there suffered heavy loss in the destruction。

2.A seismic gap is located at the junction of two interlocking plates in the Earth, and where no seismic activity has been recorded for a long time。

3.From the passage we learn that a regular striking pattern can be found in an active earthquake region。

4.During an earthquake in China 1975, cows broke their halters and ran away from their sheds。

5.As it is used in Paragraph 13, the word “cat” refers to a typical domestic cat。

6.All animals but tiny changed in air pressure, gravity, or the magnetism of Earth。

7.The dogs mentioned in Paragraph 15 had sensed both the low booms and the minor quakes following them。

1. [Y][N][NG]2.[Y][N][NG]3.[Y][N][NG]

4. [Y][N][NG]5.[Y][N][NG]6.[Y][N][NG]

7. [Y][N][NG]

8.Dr. Caputo based his prediction upon the fact that lots of earthquakes had recently occurred in all areas around Naples but its___________。

9.According to the author’s information, every 50 years or so, a mighty earthquake will be recorded at___________________。

10.Chinese scientists evacuated people from_____________after they had noticed the strange behavior of some animals as well as physical changes in the earth。

Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)

【全文翻译】

地震科学家能预测危险的地震吗

1980年11月23日，意大利南部靠近那不勒斯的居民们感觉到大地晃动和颤抖。地震!建筑物在突然间倒塌了，大地出现了裂缝。几分钟内，整个城镇毁于一旦，成千上万的人死了，几千万的人受伤了。

当救援队在瓦砾堆中搜人想知道，如果受害者事先知道要发生地震的话，许多生命是否可以得到挽救。

事 实上，意大利的一位科学家的确预测到了地震的发生。1977年，罗马Degiles Studi大学的博士M. Caputo先生警告说，不久那不勒斯东部将会发生大地震。不幸的是，他不能准确地预测地震发生的时间和日期。Caputo博士的预测是在与遍及意大利的 54所地震监测站的科学家交谈后作出的。他发现，最近那不勒斯附近地区发生了多次地震。但是，多年来，那不勒斯东部的有个地方一直没有发生地震。是在酝酿一次大地震。情况的确如此。

地震发生在空白区

Caputo博士把地震发生的区域称为地震空白区。地震空白区位于长期以来没有地震或者地震活动发生的地震活跃区。地震空白区位于地球两大板块的连接处。

当地震板块彼此滑过对方时，它们有时会被锁在一起。当你穿着运动鞋在人行道上跳跃时，也会发生类似的情况。当你双脚着地时，运动鞋会与粗糙的地面粘在一起，摩擦力会使你的脚后倾，同时你的身体却会前倾。你可能最终会跌得鼻青脸肿。

然而，地震板块表面是不均匀的，这会使它们锁在一起很多年。每个板块后都积聚着巨大的压力。当其中的一些能量释时，就会出现定期的震颤或者震动。

最后，在大约50年之后，岩石或者突然崩裂或者以巨大的压力移动。这种突然释放的能量会让地震波穿过岩层直达地面，于是地面震动了，人行横道断裂了，建筑物倒塌了，强大的地震发生了。

利用地震空白区来预测地震

许多地质学家们已经使用地震空白区技术来准确地预测地震。该项技术是由苏联地震专家V. Fodotov博士在研究日本古代和近代地震时首先使用的。在标注日本已发生地震的地点规模和日期时，他发现了一个明显的特点。

日本所有的大地震都发生在几个孤立的地区。Fodotov博士指出，这些地方仅隔50到60年就会发生一次大地震;他还断言说，50年以上没有发生地震的区域是地震的“成熟”区。俄罗斯科学家将这些区域命名为地震空白区。

在过去的几年中，其他国家的地质学家在世界的其他地方也发现了地震空白区。经过对这些地区以往地震的详细研究，地质学家能够精确地预测地震发生的时间。

动物是如何知道地震即将来临的

最近，试图预测地震的科学家们找到了一些新的帮手——动物。

没 错，就是动物。科学家们开始了解到农民已经知道了数千年之久的情况。动物通常事先知道地震即将来临，并以奇怪的方式表现出恐惧。在中1975年国发生地震 前，冬眠的蛇过早地醒来，结果冻死在寒冷的空气中;奶牛挣断缰绳，企图逃跑;鸡拒绝进入鸡舍。所有这些不寻常的行为以及地球自身的变化，使中国科学家充分 地认识到地震即将来临。他们让地震危险区的居民搬迁出来，从而挽救了成千上万人的性命。

要准确了解到底哪类动物的行为可以预测地震，这是 科学家目前的一个任务，但这不是一件容易的事情。首先不是每个动物都能对地震的危险作出反应。例如，在1977年加州地震之前，一匹阿拉伯种马变得非常紧 张，试图跑出马厩;但是，他旁边的那匹马仍然非常安静。有时侯，也很难分辨出正常动物的不安和“地震(造成)的紧张”。有位动物管理员曾经对地震研究人员 说，他的美洲狮一直行为怪怪的，结果证明是其胃部不舒服。

弄清楚到底动物收到了什么样的警告，这是科学家的另外一个任务。他们知道，动物的感觉比人的更敏感。许多动物能看到、听到、闻到人察觉不到的东西。一些动物能够感觉到气压、重力或者地球磁场的微小变化。这种特别的感觉可能有助于动物预测地震。

发 生在一群狗身上的事情是这方面的一个很好的例子。关这群狗的地方正在发生一系列的小地震。(大地震前后常会发生一些小地震。)每次地震前都能听到一声低沉 的爆炸声，每次爆炸声都会引起狗的疯狂乱叫。后来，狗在没有爆炸声一段时期也开始叫喊。一位正在记录瓦块地震的科学家注意到他的机器也好像表现出有巨大声 音的样子。他意识到，狗对一次巨大的声音作出了反应，它们也感觉到了随后发生的轻微地震。尽管人类什么都没有感觉到、也没有听到，这台机器却记录下了这一 切。

在这种情况下，有一个机器监视着狗的感应。然而，有许多次，尽管动物知道地震即将来临，但我们的机器却没有记录下任何异常的活动。动 物可能会感觉到我们所测量的情况，但没有把它看作是一种警告。发现动物感应到什么，并了解他们是如何知道这是一种危险的信号，这是科学家今后的工作。

【答案解析】

1.【解析】[Y]根据第一段。

2. 【解析】[Y]根据earthquakes strikes in gap 的第一段判断。

3. 【解析】[Y]根据gaps used to predict quakes 中的最后一段最后一句判断正确。

4.【解析】[N]根据第十二段，Cows broke their halters and tried to escape. 并没有交代ran away from their sheds。

5. 【解析】[N]这里的cat 指的是cougar。

6. 【解析】[N]根据第十四段最后三句话，我们可以得出，并不是所有的动物都能感受到的。

7.【解析】[Y]参看第十五段。

8. 【解析】east根据第三段，But none had occurred in one particular spot east of Naples for many years。

9. 【解析】the seismic gap根据第七段，Finally, after about 50 years, rock in the seismic gap either suddenly breaks or moves under the great stress。

10. 【解析】the danger zone/the prospective quake zone根据第十四段，They moved people away from the danger zone and saved thousands of lives. 如果能写出the prospective quake zone 也是可以的。

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