Earthquakes can rip apart entire cities and outlying districts, as the 1995 disaster in Kobe, Japan showed. SeismoLogists, scientists who study earthquakes and related phenomena, have records dating back to 1556, from the Chinese province of Shaanxi, which indicate that earthquakes have been devastating our world for centuries. The destructive forces which produce earthquakes usually begin deep below the ground, along a fault in weaker areas of the earth’s rocky outer shell, where sections of rock repeatedly slide past each other. As the fracture extends along the fault, blocks of rock on one side of the fault may drop down below the rock on the other side, move up and over the other side, or slide forward past the other. The violent shattering of rock releases energy that travels in waves, and these seismic waves move out from the focus of the earthquake in all directions. As the waves travel away from the focus, they grow gradually weaker, generally resulting in the ground shaking less as distances increase. Geological movements are not the only occurrences to trigger an earthquake. Human activity, most often the filling of reservoirs with extraordinarily large amounts of water, can also cause earthquakes. Similarly, massive explosions can wreak havoc, too. Earthquakes almost never kill people directly. Instead, many deaths and injuries result from falling objects and collapsing buildings, while fire resulting from broken gas or fallen power lines is another danger. The Kobe earthquake in January 1995 lasted only 20 seconds, yet resulted in a death toll of over 5,000 and injured approximately 26,000 people. Even though earthquake prone countries spend enormous human and financial resources on seismographic measurement, as a means of predicting earthquakes, there is a danger in paying too much heed to seemingly high risk zones and erecting less stable buildings solely because of their being in a low risk zone. Prior to the earthquake, Kobe was not regarded as at serious risk, but after the disaster, investigation of the damage revealed that nearly all deaths occurred in small buildings shattered rather than twisted when stressed. Coupled with the problem of soft soils, the buildings had little firm support and many crumbled. If countries wish to withstand the devastating forces of substantial earthquakes and reduce death, injury and property damage, it is important to design and construct buildings that are earthquake resistant, as well as monitor seismic forces. It is believed that
A. soft soils may fail to support less stable buildings in an earthquake.
B. soft soils may cause building to twist rather than shatter.
C. soft soils are easy to cause earthquake.
D. soft soils can be found in high-risk zones.
Clara came to Jordan’s. Some of the older hands, Fanny among them, remembered her earlier rule, and cordially disliked the memory. Clara had always been "ikey", reserved, and superior. She had never mixed with the girls as one of themselves. If she had occasion to find fault, she did it coolly and with perfect politeness, which the defaulter felt to be a bigger insult than crossness. Towards Fanny, the poor, over-strung hunchback, Clara was unfailingly compassionate and gentle, as a result of which Fanny shed more bitter tears than ever the rough tongues of the other overseers had caused her. There was something in Clara that Paul disliked, and much that piqued him. If she were about, he always watched her strong throat or her neck, upon which the blond hair grew low and fluffy. There was a fine down, almost invisible, upon the skin of her face and arms, and once he had perceived it, he saw it always. When he was at his work, painting in the afternoon, she would come and stand near him, perfectly motionless. Then he felt her, though she neither spoke nor touched him. Although she stood a yard away he felt as if he were in contact with her. Then he could paint no more. He flung down the brushes, and turned to talk to her. Sometimes she praised his work; sometimes she was critical and cold. "You are affected in that piece," she would say; and, as there was an element of truth in her condemnation, his blood boiled with anger. Again: "What of this" he would ask enthusiastically. "H’m!" She made a small doubtful sound. "It doesn’t interest me much." "Because you don’t understand it," he retorted. "Because I thought you would understand." She would shrug her shoulders in scorn of his work. She maddened him. He was furious. Then he abused her, and went into passionate exposition of his stuff. This amused and stimulated her. But she never owned that she had been wrong. During the ten years that she had belonged to the women’s movement she had acquired a fair amount of education, and, having had some of Miriam’s passion to be instructed, had taught herself French, and could read in that language with a struggle. She considered herself as a woman apart, and particularly apart, from her class. The girls in the spiral department were all of good homes. It was a small, special industry, and had a certain distinction. There was an air of refinement in both rooms. But Clara was aloof also from her fellow-workers. None of these things, however, did she reveal to Paul. She was not the one to give herself away. There was a sense of mystery about her. She was so reserved, he felt she had much to reserve. Her history was open on the surface, but its inner meaning was hidden from everybody. It was exciting. And then sometimes he caught her looking at him from under her brows with an almost furtive, sullen scrutiny, which made him move quickly. Often she met his eyes. But then her own were, as it were, covered over, revealing nothing. She gave him a little, lenient smile. She was to him extraordinarily provocative, because of the knowledge she seemed to possess, and gathered fruit of experience he could not attain. Which of the following descriptions is NOT true of Paul’s feeling when he was with Clara
A. He felt attracted by her.
B. He didn’t quite understand her.
C. He felt himself inferior for lacking knowledge and experience.
D. He shared many ideas with her concerning paintin