资料：Asked to name their favorite city, many Americans would select San Francisco which began as a small Spanish outpost located on a magnificent bay. The town was little more than a village serving ra

共用题干
A Great Quake Coming?

Everyone who lives in San Francisco knows that earthquakes are common in the Bay Area一and they
can be devastating. In 1906,for example,a major quake destroyed about 28,000 buildings and killed
hundreds,perhaps thousands of people.Residents now wonder when the next"Big One"will strike.It's
bound to happen someday. At least seven active fault（断层）lines run through the San Francisco area. Faults
are places where pieces of Earth ' s crust（地壳）slide past each other. When these pieces slip , the ground
shakes.
To prepare for that day,scientists are using new techniques to reanalyze the 1906 earthquake and pre-
dict how bad the damage might be when the next one happens.
One new finding about the 1906 earthquake is that the San Andreas fault split apart faster than scientists
had assumed at the time. During small earthquakes,faults rupture（断裂）at about 2.7 kilometers per second.
During bigger quakes,however,ruptures can happen at rates faster than 3.5 kilometers per second.
At such high speeds,massive amounts of pressure build up,generating underground waves that can
cause more damage than the quake itself. Lucky for San Francisco , these pressure pulses（脉冲）traveled
away from the city during the 1906 event.As bad as the damage was,it could have been far worse.
Looking ahead,scientists are trying to predict when the next major quake will occur. Records show that
earthquakes were common before 1906.Since then,the area has been relatively quiet.Patterns in the data,
however,suggest that the probability of a major earthquake striking the Bay Area before 2032 is at least 62
percent.
New buildings in San Francisco are quite safe in case of future quakes.Still,more than 84 percent of the
city's buildings are old and weak.Analyses suggest that another massive earthquake would cause extensive
damage.
People who live there today tend to feel safe because San Francisco has remained pretty quiet for a
while.According to the new research,however,it's not a matter of"if" the Big One will hit.It's just a mat-
ter of when.

Earthquakes rarely happened in San Francisco before 1906.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned

It is generally agreed that the first true cities appeared about 5,000 years ago in the food-producing communities of the Middle East． The cities of Sumeria, Egypt and the Indus Valley possessed a number of characteristics that distinguished them as truly urban． The cities were very much larger and more densely populated than any previous settlement, and their function wasclearly differentiated from that of the surrounding villages． In the cities the old patterns of kinship relations were replaced by a complex hierarchy of social classes based on the specialization of
labor． Moreover, the need to keep records led to the development of writing and arithmetic, and the increased sophistication of urban society gave a new impetus to artistic expression of every kind．
When the basis of city life was established in Europe the urban tradition was drawn from the ancient cities of the Middle East, via the civilization of Greece and Rome． We can trace three main phases in the growth of the West European city． The first of these is the medieval phase which extends from the beginning of the 1 lth century A．D． to about 1,500 to the beginning of the 19th century． The third is the modern phase extending from the early 19th century to the present day．
Every medieval city began as a small settlement, which grew up round a geographical or cultural focal point． This would be a permanent structure such as a stronghold, a cathedral or a large church． In districts where travel and trade were well established, it might be a market, a river crossing, or a place where two or more trade routes met, in studies of urban geography the oldest part of town is referred to as the nuclear settlement． There are many small towns in Europe where it is still possible to trace the outline of the original nuclear settlement． It is, of course,
much more difficult to do this in the case if a large modern city which has grown to many times its original size．
?Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

A.The Origin and Development of Cities．
B.The Differences Between a Modern City and an Ancient City．
C.The Functions of a City．
D.The Characteristics of an Ancient City．

It is generally agreed that the first true cities appeared about 5,000 years ago in the food-producing communities of the Middle East． The cities of Sumeria, Egypt and the Indus Valley possessed a number of characteristics that distinguished them as truly urban． The cities were very much larger and more densely populated than any previous settlement, and their function wasclearly differentiated from that of the surrounding villages． In the cities the old patterns of kinship relations were replaced by a complex hierarchy of social classes based on the specialization of
labor． Moreover, the need to keep records led to the development of writing and arithmetic, and the increased sophistication of urban society gave a new impetus to artistic expression of every kind．
When the basis of city life was established in Europe the urban tradition was drawn from the ancient cities of the Middle East, via the civilization of Greece and Rome． We can trace three main phases in the growth of the West European city． The first of these is the medieval phase which extends from the beginning of the 1 lth century A．D． to about 1,500 to the beginning of the 19th century． The third is the modern phase extending from the early 19th century to the present day．
Every medieval city began as a small settlement, which grew up round a geographical or cultural focal point． This would be a permanent structure such as a stronghold, a cathedral or a large church． In districts where travel and trade were well established, it might be a market, a river crossing, or a place where two or more trade routes met, in studies of urban geography the oldest part of town is referred to as the nuclear settlement． There are many small towns in Europe where it is still possible to trace the outline of the original nuclear settlement． It is, of course,
much more difficult to do this in the case if a large modern city which has grown to many times its original size．
It is easier to locate its original nuclear settlement of a small town__________．

A.because it began as a small settlement
B.because it is less developed
C.because of its small size
D.because of its location

It is generally agreed that the first true cities appeared about 5,000 years ago in the food-producing communities of the Middle East． The cities of Sumeria, Egypt and the Indus Valley possessed a number of characteristics that distinguished them as truly urban． The cities were very much larger and more densely populated than any previous settlement, and their function wasclearly differentiated from that of the surrounding villages． In the cities the old patterns of kinship relations were replaced by a complex hierarchy of social classes based on the specialization of
labor． Moreover, the need to keep records led to the development of writing and arithmetic, and the increased sophistication of urban society gave a new impetus to artistic expression of every kind．
When the basis of city life was established in Europe the urban tradition was drawn from the ancient cities of the Middle East, via the civilization of Greece and Rome． We can trace three main phases in the growth of the West European city． The first of these is the medieval phase which extends from the beginning of the 1 lth century A．D． to about 1,500 to the beginning of the 19th century． The third is the modern phase extending from the early 19th century to the present day．
Every medieval city began as a small settlement, which grew up round a geographical or cultural focal point． This would be a permanent structure such as a stronghold, a cathedral or a large church． In districts where travel and trade were well established, it might be a market, a river crossing, or a place where two or more trade routes met, in studies of urban geography the oldest part of town is referred to as the nuclear settlement． There are many small towns in Europe where it is still possible to trace the outline of the original nuclear settlement． It is, of course,
much more difficult to do this in the case if a large modern city which has grown to many times its original size．
?Which of the following could be regarded as a geographical focal point?

A.A local restaurant．
B.A town hall．
C.A local theatre．
D.An open market．

共用题干
A Great Quake Coming?

Everyone who lives in San Francisco knows that earthquakes are common in the Bay Area一and they
can be devastating. In 1906,for example,a major quake destroyed about 28,000 buildings and killed
hundreds,perhaps thousands of people.Residents now wonder when the next"Big One"will strike.It's
bound to happen someday. At least seven active fault（断层）lines run through the San Francisco area. Faults
are places where pieces of Earth ' s crust（地壳）slide past each other. When these pieces slip , the ground
shakes.
To prepare for that day,scientists are using new techniques to reanalyze the 1906 earthquake and pre-
dict how bad the damage might be when the next one happens.
One new finding about the 1906 earthquake is that the San Andreas fault split apart faster than scientists
had assumed at the time. During small earthquakes,faults rupture（断裂）at about 2.7 kilometers per second.
During bigger quakes,however,ruptures can happen at rates faster than 3.5 kilometers per second.
At such high speeds,massive amounts of pressure build up,generating underground waves that can
cause more damage than the quake itself. Lucky for San Francisco , these pressure pulses（脉冲）traveled
away from the city during the 1906 event.As bad as the damage was,it could have been far worse.
Looking ahead,scientists are trying to predict when the next major quake will occur. Records show that
earthquakes were common before 1906.Since then,the area has been relatively quiet.Patterns in the data,
however,suggest that the probability of a major earthquake striking the Bay Area before 2032 is at least 62
percent.
New buildings in San Francisco are quite safe in case of future quakes.Still,more than 84 percent of the
city's buildings are old and weak.Analyses suggest that another massive earthquake would cause extensive
damage.
People who live there today tend to feel safe because San Francisco has remained pretty quiet for a
while.According to the new research,however,it's not a matter of"if" the Big One will hit.It's just a mat-
ter of when.

The highest speed of fault ruptures in the 1906 quake was more than 3.5 kilometers per second.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned