Moderate Earthquake Strikes England

    A moderate earthquake struck parts of southeastEnglandon 28 April 2007, toppling chimneys from houses and rousing residents from their beds. Several thousand people were left without power 1 in Kent County 2. One woman suffered minor head and neck injuries.

    “It felt as if the whole house was being slid across like a fim-fair ride, 3” said the woman. The British Geological Survey said the 4.3-magnitude quake 4 struck at 8:19 a.m. and was centered under the English Channel 5, about 8.5 miles south ofDover 6 and near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel 7.

    Witnesses said cracks appeared in walls and chimneys collapsed across the county. Residents said the tremor had lasted for about 10 to 15 seconds.

    “I was lying in bed and it felt as if someone had just got up from bed next to me,” said Hendrick van Eck, 27, of Canterbury 8 about 60 miles southeast of London. “I then heard the sound of cracking, and it was getting heavier and heavier 9. It felt as if someone was at the end of my bed hopping up and down. ”

    There are thousands of moderate quakes on this scale around the world each year, but they are rare inBritain. The April 28 quake was the strongest inBritainsince 2002 when a 4.8-magnitude quake struck the centralEnglandcity ofBirmingham 10.

    The country’s strongest earthquake took place in theNorth Seain 1931, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale 11. British Geologicisd Survey scientist Roger Musson said the quake took place on 28 April in an area that had seen several of the biggest earthquakes ever to strike Britain, including one in 1580 that caused damage in London and was felt in France. 12 Musson predicted that it was only a matter of time 13 before another earthquake struck this part ofEngland. However, people should not be scared too much by this prediction, Musson said, as the modern earthquake warning system ofBritainshould be able to detect a forthcoming quake and announce it several hours before it takes place. This would allow time for people to evacuate and reduce damage to the minimum.

词汇：

moderate /"mɔdərit/ adj．中等的

topple /"tɔpl/ v．倾倒，震倒

tremor /"tremə(r)/n．震动

fun-fair n．公共露天游乐场

forthcoming /fɔ:θ"kʌmiŋ/ adj．即将来临的

geological /dʒiə"lɔdʒikəl/ adj．地质的

magnitude /"mægnitju:d/ n．值，强度量

rouse /rauz/ v．唤醒

hop /hop/ v．齐足跳起

scale /skeil/ n．震级

evacuate /i"vækjueit/ v．疏散

注释：

1.    power：电力

2.    Kent County：肯特郡［位于英格兰东南部］

3.    It felt as if the whole house was being slid across like a fun-fair ride．它（地震）给人的感觉是整幢房子就像游乐场的滑行机一样在滑动。ride是游乐场供人玩乐的乘坐式的活动装置。as if是“好像……一样；仿佛”，例如：He treated me as if I were his son．他待我如同对待他的儿子一样。

4.    the 4.3-magnitude quake：里氏4.3级地震

5.    English Channel：英吉利海峡

6.    Dover：多佛尔［英格兰东南部港口城市］

7.    Channel Tunnel：海峡隧道。Channel Tunnel（常简称为Chunnel）是连接英法两国的海峡隧道。

8.    Canterbury：坎特伯雷［英格兰东南部城市，中世纪时曾是zōng jiāo 朝圣圣地］

9.    it was getting heavier and heavier：爆裂声越来越响

10.  Birmingham：伯明翰［英格兰中部城市］

11.  the Richter scale：里氏震级表。美国地震学家Charles Francis Richter (1900-1985)于1935年制定了地震震级表。

12.  British Geological Survey scientist Roger Musson said the quake took place on 28 April in an area that had seen several of the biggest earthquakes ever to strike Britain, including one in 1580 that caused damage in London and was felt in France．英国地质勘测所的科学家Roger Musson说，4月28日发生地震的地区曾经遭受过几起英国最大的地震，其中的一次发生在1580年，那次地震蹂躏了伦敦，并波及法国。

13.  a matter of time：时间问题。又如：It"s not a matter of money．这个不是钱的问题。

During the April 28 earthquake, the whole Englandwas left without power.

A:Right B:Wrong C:Not mentioned

When I was 13 my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant  21 Miller King, who was the best   22  at our school.
Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for      23   .
Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from   24  . He looked very   25  , but he didn’t cry.
That season, I  26  all of Miller’s records while he   27  the home games from the bench. We went 10-1 and I was named most valuable player,   28  I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame for Miller’s   29  .
One afternoon, I was crossing the field to go home and saw Miller  30   going over a fence—which wasn’t  31  to climb if you had both arms. I’m sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept   32 from. But even that challenge he accepted. I  33   him move slowly over the fence. When we were finally   34   on the other side, he said to me, “You know, I didn’t tell you this during the season, but you did   35  .Thank you for filling in for  36  .”
His words freed me from my bad  37  . I thought to myself, how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was  38  ahead of me. I was right to have  39 him. From that day on，I grew  40  and a little more real.

A:practice  B:show  C:comfort  D:pleasure

When I was 13 my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant  21 Miller King, who was the best   22  at our school.
Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for      23   .
Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from   24  . He looked very   25  , but he didn’t cry.
That season, I  26  all of Miller’s records while he   27  the home games from the bench. We went 10-1 and I was named most valuable player,   28  I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame for Miller’s   29  .
One afternoon, I was crossing the field to go home and saw Miller  30   going over a fence—which wasn’t  31  to climb if you had both arms. I’m sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept   32 from. But even that challenge he accepted. I  33   him move slowly over the fence. When we were finally   34   on the other side, he said to me, “You know, I didn’t tell you this during the season, but you did   35  .Thank you for filling in for  36  .”
His words freed me from my bad  37  . I thought to myself, how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was  38  ahead of me. I was right to have  39 him. From that day on，I grew  40  and a little more real.

A:praise  B:advice  C:assistance  D:apology

When I was 13 my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant  21 Miller King, who was the best   22  at our school.
Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for      23   .
Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from   24  . He looked very   25  , but he didn’t cry.
That season, I  26  all of Miller’s records while he   27  the home games from the bench. We went 10-1 and I was named most valuable player,   28  I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame for Miller’s   29  .
One afternoon, I was crossing the field to go home and saw Miller  30   going over a fence—which wasn’t  31  to climb if you had both arms. I’m sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept   32 from. But even that challenge he accepted. I  33   him move slowly over the fence. When we were finally   34   on the other side, he said to me, “You know, I didn’t tell you this during the season, but you did   35  .Thank you for filling in for  36  .”
His words freed me from my bad  37  . I thought to myself, how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was  38  ahead of me. I was right to have  39 him. From that day on，I grew  40  and a little more real.

A:practice  B:show  C:comfort  D:pleasure

When I was 13 my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant  21 Miller King, who was the best   22  at our school.
Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for      23   .
Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from   24  . He looked very   25  , but he didn’t cry.
That season, I  26  all of Miller’s records while he   27  the home games from the bench. We went 10-1 and I was named most valuable player,   28  I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame for Miller’s   29  .
One afternoon, I was crossing the field to go home and saw Miller  30   going over a fence—which wasn’t  31  to climb if you had both arms. I’m sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept   32 from. But even that challenge he accepted. I  33   him move slowly over the fence. When we were finally   34   on the other side, he said to me, “You know, I didn’t tell you this during the season, but you did   35  .Thank you for filling in for  36  .”
His words freed me from my bad  37  . I thought to myself, how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was  38  ahead of me. I was right to have  39 him. From that day on，I grew  40  and a little more real.

A:praise  B:advice  C:assistance  D:apology

从所给的四个选项中，选择最合适的一个填入问号处，使之呈现一定规律性：                                           A                     B                    C                      D

A:A  B:B  C:C  D:D