The January 12 Haiti earthquake and its aftershocks1 killed or injured hundreds of thousands of people in the Caribbean island nation, mostly as a result of what engineers call structural failure-buildings collapsing, roofs falling in, that sort of thing.
Although a fault line goes pretty much right through Haitis capital city, PortauPrince, the natural disaster most Haitians worried about is hurricane. The destructive tropical2 storms rake3 through the region every summer, and Haiti, a very poor country, was still cleaning up from a succession of severe hurricanes over the past two years. The last big earthquake was in the 19th century. So its not surprising that many buildings were not designed or built to withstand4 the shock.
Civil engineering professor Anne Kiremidjian of Stanford University has been studying pictures from the earthquake zone, where she says masonry5, concrete frame, and adobe6 construction dominates. “All three types of construction can be extremely vulnerable7 to earthquakes.” For example, she says masonry buildings-made of brick or concrete block-have to be properly reinforced.
The building materials and techniques used in Haiti are not necessarily prone to failure, says structural engineering professor Clay Naito of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. But construction has to be done right. “Reinforced concrete is an excellent material for earthquakes. You can design structures out of reinforced concrete that work very well under very high earthquake demands,” Naito said.
Engineers stress the importance of adopting a building code that would require features to make buildings less prone to earthquake damage.
Architecture professor Mary Comerio of the University of California at Berkeley notes that the costs of reconstruction in Haiti under much stricter building codes would be “astronomical”.
“Its not just Haitis problem,” she stressed. “I think this is a worldwide problem. There was a study done that people tend to forget within 10 years that there was a 0tating8 earthquake, or that there was a devastating event. If it doesnt happen frequently enough, people have a tendency to forget, and very often choose to forget.”
【生词注释】
1. aftershockn. 余震2. tropicaladj. 热带的；炎热的
3. rakevt.& vi. 以耙子耙平（泥土等）
；把……耙出来4. withstandvt. 经受；承受
5. masonryn. 石工工程; 砖瓦工工程6. adoben. 砖坯；土砖
7. vulnerableadj. 易受伤的；脆弱的；敏感的8. devastatingadj. 毁灭性的
1. What did the January 12 Haiti earthquake result in most?
A. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed or injured.
B. Haitis capital city was completely destroyed.
C. All types of construction in Haiti can be extremely vulnerable to earthquakes.
D. Architecture professors want to design the structural system and renew Haiti.
2. How many engineering professors are mentioned in the passage?
A. Two.
B. Three.
C. Four.
D. Five.
3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. What Haitians worried about most every summer is hurricane.
B. What can not be extremely vulnerable to earthquakes are all masonry buildings.
C. What professor Clay Naito said means reinforced concrete is bad for earthquakes.
D. What people have a tendency to forget is a worldwide problem.
4. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Engineers Design All New Buildings
B. Haiti Gives People Around the World Nothing
C. Haiti Brings Damage to the World
D. Engineers Assess Damage from Haiti Earthquake
A massive1 earthquake measuring 8.8 magnitude on the Richter scale struck southern Chile early Saturday-on February 27, 2010, knocking out power and driving people in panic2 into the streets. The earthquake struck 320 km southwest of Santiago at a depth of 59.4 km 3:34 a.m. （0634 GMT）, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
At least six people were killed by the earthquake, which was capable of major damage, said President Michelle Bachelet.
A Xinhua reporter said that when the earthquake struck, he felt his house shaking and heard a squeaky3 sound for nearly 40 seconds. Shortly after that, electricity was disrupted and everything fell into darkness.
Telecommunications also were disrupted, with almost all telephone and mobile phone calls disconnected, the reporter said.
Many people in the neighborhood ran out to the street in panic. Helicopters were seen hovering4 in the air.
Witnesses said many building were damaged but how big the scale of the damage was not immediately clear.
Tsunamis carrying waves as high as 1.5 meters and traveling at 800 km per hour to the north and south were generated by the tremendous5 earthquake, （CNN） reported.
Imminent6 danger warnings were issued for the entire coasts of Chile and Peru and a lessurgent tsunami watch was issued for Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Antarctica.
【生词注释】
1. massiveadj. 大而重的；大块的2. panicn. 恐慌；惊慌；慌乱
3. squeakyadj. 吱吱响的；发轧声的4. hovervi. （鸟等）盘旋；（人）徘徊；走来走去
5. tremendousadj. 极大的；巨大的6. imminentadj. （通常指不愉快的事）即将发生的；逼近的
1. From the first paragraph, we know that .
A. the massive earthquake struck southern Santiago on February 27, 2010
B. there was a panic when the tremendous earthquake happened
C. the terrible earthquake knocked out power and drove people into hospital
D. the earthquake struck 320 km southwest of Chile at a depth of 59.4 km 3:34 a.m.
2. What did a Xinhua reporter feel when the earthquake struck?
A. He felt at least six people were killed by the earthquake.
B. He felt his house shaking and heard a short and high sound for several seconds.
C. He felt electricity was turned off and everything fell into darkness.
D. He felt he was scared to death and his mobile phone couldnt work.
3. Only according to the passage, we can infer that the following all paid attention to the Chile earthquake EXCEPT .
A. the U.S. Geological Survey
B. Xinhua News Agency
C. Cable News Network（CNN）
D. Ecuador
4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Although telecommunications were cut off, all cell phones work smoothly.
B. Many people in the neighborhood ran out to jump into the ship for escaping.
C. People saw that helicopters were flying in the air back and forth.
D. Many buildings were damaged and the scale of the damage was limited.
