The devastating effects of earthquakes on human lives and property have encouraged the search for earthquake prediction. This challenge remains and contemporary seismologists continue to seek reliable methods for pinpointing the time, place and magnitude of individual quakes. One prediction technique involves an analysis of the recurrence rates of earthquakes as indicators of future seismic activity. Earthquakes are concentrated in certain areas of the world where tectonic plates such as the Pacific Plate, the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate meet and create fault zones and it is in these areas that seismologists focus their investigations. The tectonic plate model provides another tool for earthquake prediction by calculating the accumulated strain at plate boundaries. When the strain reaches a certain magnitude the pressure must be released and it is therefore hypothesized that in such eases an earthquake is imminent. The search for premonitory phenomena has received particular attention. In contrast to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who relied on the howling of dogs as a warning sign, modern seismologists have focused on physical evidence for an impending earthquake. Evidence of plate strain can be found by measuring relative movements in geodetic stations, while chemical changes also offer signals for seismologists. Using chemical-detection techniques, scientists established a link between the rise in the concentration of radon gas in mineral water and the subsequent earthquake. Analysis of the changes in magnetic properties and conductivity of rocks provides further data for prediction. The electrical and magnetic properties of crustal rocks particularly sensitive to strain and studies measuring changes which occur in these properties have provided promising results. The conductivity of crustal rock is determined by the degree to which the rock is saturated with fluid and the electrolytic properties of those fluids. Before large earthquakes, small fractures develop in rocks, which change the quantity of fluid present. These changes can be measured and provide useful predictive data. However, similar changes in the fluid-bearing capacity of rock can occur as a result of other factors such as changes in the water table, and therefore this technique is not entirely reliable. The belief that the behavior of birds, eats and dogs provides evidence of imminent earthquakes has recently gained credence. It is hypothesized that the animals are sensitive to the seismic waves which precede major quakes. In zones where earthquakes are known to occur, improved construction techniques can significantly reduce the effects of seismic waves. If more accurate information regarding the time and magnitude were available, governments could take even more effective measures to reduce the impact on human life. If an entirely accurate prediction technique became available, there would be significant social and political implications. An earthquake prediction in a major urban area would require governments to provide an effective evacuation strategy, necessitating massive resource and political will. "The electrical and magnetic properties of crustal rocks particularly sensitive to strain and studies measuring changes which occur in these properties have provided promising results." ( Paragraph 5) What is the function of this sentence
A. To provide an example of a previous idea.
B. To summarize the paragraph.
C. To provide an argument against the previous idea.
D. To establish the main point of the passage.
下列操作中,能在各种中文输入法及英文输入之间切换的是 (45) 。
A. 用Ctrl + Shift键
B. 用鼠标左键单击输入方式切换按钮
C. 用Shift+空格键
D. 用Alt+空格键
For each blank, choose the best answer from the four choices and write down on the answer sheet. (71) is a channel’ s capacity which directly reflects the data transfer rate of the channel. (72) functions in a NetWare network which is used to define addressing schemes. (73) is a network layer device that supports multiple LAN interfaces and segments LANs into smaller collision and broadcast domains. (74) is the popular LAN developed under the direction of the IEEE802.3. (75) is a device which enables digital microcomputers to communicate across analog telephone lines.
A. The volume
B. The bandwidth
C. The noise
D. The delay
In recent speeches at Republican fundraisers, President Bush has taken to criticizing the press for baring government secrets. The outgoing secretary of the Treasury, John Snow, in what may have been his last official act, wrote to The New York Times that in exposing the monitoring of bank transfers, it had undermined a successful counterterrorism program. A house resolution, passed by a party line vote, called on the media to safeguard classified programs. The government has discovered what governments have discovered before, that an undercurrent of hostility towards the news media runs through the country and that there could be political advantage in campaigning against the press in general. The champion press hater, of course, was President Nixon, who told his staff that the press is the enemy, and he proceeded to declare his own private war against the media. In 1969, he had a speech written by speechwriter Pat Buchanan denouncing the media as a "tiny and closed fraternity of privileged men". And he gave it to Vice President Spiro Agnew to deliver. That speech is best remembered today for the line contributed by another speechwriter, William Safire, about "nattering nabobs of negativism". It is not clear that the public hates the press as much as officialdom would like to think. A recent Pew Research report found that public attitudes towards the press have been on a downward track for years. Growing numbers of people questioned the news media’s patriotism and fairness. And yet most Americans continue to say they like mainstream news outlets. And so, as The Christian Science Monitor headlined the other day: "Amid war on terror, a war with the press." You would not expect that I, as a journalist, would exhibit total neutrality in such a war. And so let me quote Justice Potter Stewart in his opinion in the Pentagon Papers ease in 1971: "In the absence of governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the area of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry... Without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people;" That remains true, even when Mr. Bush proclaims a state of war with the terrorists. According to the passage, who might hate the free press most
A. President Bush.
B. John Snow.
C. President Nixon.
D. Pat Buchanan.