Question

    John Farish, an engineer who was staying at the St. Francis, one of the city’s finest hotels, remembered the very early morning of Wednesday, April 18, 1906: I was awakened by a loud noise, which might be compared to the mixed sounds of a strong wind flowing through a forest and the breaking of waves against a rock. In less time than it takes to tell, a shake, similar to that caused by a nearby explosion (爆炸), shook the building to its bases and it began a series of the most lively movements. Together with a frightening sound, it was followed by big crashes (碰撞) as the neighboring buildings and chimneys fell to the ground.

A few blocks away, in a comfortable room in the Palace Hotel, the world’s greatest singer, Enrico Caruso, was asleep after a good performance at the Opera House the night before. He awoke to find: Everything in the room was going round and round. The light was trying to touch the ceiling and the chairs were all chasing each other. Crash — crash — crash! It was a terrible scene. Everywhere the walls were falling and clouds of yellow dust were rising. My God, I thought it would never stop!

And at the same moment, in another part of the city, Jesse Cook, a policeman, reported: The whole street was undulating (起伏波动). It was as if the waves of the ocean were coming toward me, and waving as they came.

It was, of course, an earthquake, one of the largest ever to hit North America, and the first of 27 separate quakes that day. The first shock — at 5:12:05 a.m. — lasted more than 40 seconds. It was by far the largest, about 8.3 on the Richter scale; its epicenter (震源) was just off the coast, around the Pacific.

1.When the earthquake happened, Caruso was _____.

A.looking at the waves rushing against the rock

B.giving a performance at the Opera House

C.listening to the sounds of wind flowing

D.sleeping in the comfortable Palace Hotel

2.How did Jesse Cook describe the earthquake?

A.The street was flooded with ocean water.

B.The street was dancing like ocean waves.

C.The chairs in the room were chasing each other.

D.The light was falling to the ground heavily.

3.What can we know about the earthquake according to the passage?

A.It was followed by 26 quakes that day.

B.It caused the most deaths in history.

C.It came from the center of the Pacific.

D.It struck the place at midnight.

4.The purpose of writing this passage is to _____.

A.teach us how to protect ourselves in an earth-quake

B.find out why the earthquake happened

C.describe the happenings of a strong earthquake

D.introduce what harm the earthquake did to people

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.C

【解析】

本文为记叙文。主要叙述了约翰·法里什，歌手恩里科·卡鲁索和警察杰西·库克三个人在发生强震时的描述。

1.推理判断题。根据第二段“in a comfortable room in the Palace Hotel, the world’s greatest singer, Enrico Caruso, was asleep after a good performance at the Opera House the night before. He awoke to find: Everything in the room was going round and round. The light was trying to touch the ceiling and the chairs were all chasing each other. Crash — crash — crash! It was a terrible scene. Everywhere the walls were falling and clouds of yellow dust were rising. My God, I thought it would never stop!”可知，在皇宫酒店的一间舒适的房间里，恩里科·卡鲁索前晚在歌剧院的一场精彩演出后睡着了。他醒来发现：房间里的一切都在转来转去。灯光试图照到天花板上，椅子都在互相追逐。到处都是碰撞！那是一个可怕的场面。到处都是墙在倒塌，黄色的灰尘在升起。由此可推断出地震发生时，恩里科•卡鲁索还在皇宫酒店的一间舒适的房间里。故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据第3段“Jesse Cook, a policeman, reported: The whole street was undulating (起伏波动). It was as if the waves of the ocean were coming toward me, and waving as they came.”可知，警察杰西·库克报告说：整条街都在起伏。就好像海洋的波浪向我袭来，舞动着到来。由此可推断出“街道像海浪一样舞动”，故选B。

3.推理判断题。根据第一段“John Farish, an engineer who was staying at the St. Francis, one of the city’s finest hotels, remembered the very early morning of Wednesday, April 18, 1906”可知，在这座城市的第一次地震发生在1906年4月18日星期三的一个清晨。第二段和三段说的也是同一座城市。第四段“It was, of course, an earthquake, one of the largest ever to hit North America, and the first of 27 separate quakes that day. The first shock — at 5:12:05 a.m.”可知，是北美有史以来最大的地震之一，也是当天27次独立地震中的第一次。由此可推断出第27次是北美的第一次，那么那一天就是发生了27-1=26次地震，故选A。

4.推理判断题。根据文中的第一段可知约翰·法里什对地震的描述，第二段是歌手恩里科·卡鲁索对强烈地震的描述。第三段警察杰西·库克的报告描述了强震发生。以及最后一段对北美有史以来最大的地震的描述。由此可知，本文都是对强震的发生的描述。故选C。