Passage 1 Humans are forever forgetting that they can’ t control nature. Exactly 20 years ago, a Time magazine cover story announced that scientists are on the verge of being able to predict the time, place and even the size of earthquakes. "The people of quake-ravaged Kobe learned last week how wrong that assertion was." None of the methods conceived two decades ago has yet to discover a uniform warning signal that preceded all quakes, let alone any sign that would tell whether the coming tremor is mild or a killer. Earthquake formation can be triggered by many factors, says Hiroo Kanamori, a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology. So, finding one all-purpose warning sign is impossible. One reason: Quakes start deep in the earth, so scientists can’ t study them directly. If a quake precursor were found, it would still be impossible to warn humans in advance of all dangerous quakes. Places like Japan and California are riddled with hundreds, if not thousands, of minor faults. Prediction would be less important if scientists could easily build structures to withstand tremors. While seismic engineering has improved dramatically in the past 10 to 15 years, every new quake reveals unexpected weaknesses in "quake-resistant" structures, says Terry Tullis, a geophysicist at Brown University. In Kobe, for example, a highway that opened only last year was damaged. In the Northridge earthquake, on the other hand, well-built structures generally did not collapse. A recent report in science adds yet more anxiety about life on the faulty lines. Researchers ran computer simulations to see how quake-resistant buildings would fare in a moderate-size tremor, taking into account that much of a quakes energy travels in a large "pulse" of focused shaking. The results: Both steel-frame buildings and buildings that sit on insulating rubber pads suffered severe damage. More research will help experts design stronger structures and possibly find quake precursors. But it is still a certainty that the next earthquakes will prove once again that every fault cannot be monitored and every highway cannot be completely quake-proofed. From what the author said in Para. 1, it can be inferred that ______ .
A. scientists can never be able to predict the coming of earthquakes
B. the existing power on predicting earthquakes is somewhat exaggerated
C. quite a lot of scientific assertions are groundless
D. earthquake predictions are beyond the reach of scientists
Conversation: This section is to test your ability to comprehend short passages. You will hear a recorded passage. After that you will hear five questions. Both the passage and the questions will be read two times. When you hear a question, you should complete the answer to it with a word or a short phrase ( in no more than 3 words) . The questions and incomplete answers are printed in your test paper. You should write your answers on the Answer Sheet correspondingly. Now the passage will begin. How is the size of most British families Most British families are _________.
Fire InstructionThe person discovering a fire will:1. operate the nearest fire alarm;2. attack the fire with available equipment, if it is safe to do so.On hearing a fire alarm:1. those in class: will go to the assembly area under instructions given by the teacher;2. those elsewhere: will go to the assembly area by the most sensible route.Assembly area:The assembly area is the playing field which is south of the sports hall. Here names will be checked.Procedure:1. move quickly;2. do not stop to collect your personal belongings;3. do not attempt to pass others on your way to the assembly area;4. do not use the lift.Fire alarms:Fire alarms are situated as follows:1. A BlockAt the reception desk; at east end of connecting corridor; outside the kitchen door;2. B BlockAt the bottom of both stairways and on each landing;3. C BlockInside entrance room of sports hall.Fire InstructionDiscovering a fire: the first thing to do is to operate the (46) Hearing the fire alarm: to go to (47) Assembly area: in south of (48) During the fire alarm:1. Do not stop to collect your personal belongs.2. Do not pass others.3. Do not use the (49) Locations of fire alarms: if you are now in C Block, you should use the fire alarm inside (50) of sports hall. 49().