A man once said how useless it was to put advertisements in the newspaper.

“Last week, ” he said,  “my umbrella was stolen from a London church. As

it was a present,  I spent twice its worth in advertising,  but didn’t get it back. ”

“How did you write your advertisement? ” asked one of the listeners,  a merchant.

  “Here it is, ” said the man,  taking out of his pocket a slip cut from a newspaper. The other man took it and read,  “Lost from the City Church last Sunday evening,  a black silk umbrella. The gentleman who finds it will receive ten shillings on leaving it at No. 10 Broad Street. ”

“Now, ” said the merchant,  “I often advertise,  and find that it pays me well. But the way in which an advertisement is expressed is of extreme importance. Let us try for your umbrella again,  and if it fails,  I’ll buy you a new one. ”

  The merchant then took a slip of paper out of his pocket and wrote:  “If the man who was seen to take an umbrella from the City Church last Sunday evening doesn’t wish to get into trouble,  he will return the umbrella to No. 10 Broad Street. He is well known. ”

  This appeared in the newspaper,  and on the following morning,  the man was astonished when he opened the front door. In the doorway lay at least twelve umbrellas of all sizes and colors,  and his own was among them. Many of them had notes fastened to them saying that they had been taken by mistake,  and begging the loser not to say anything about the matter.

1.The result of the first advertisement was that____ .

A.the man got his umbrella back

B.the man wasted some money advertising

C.nobody found the missing umbrella

D.the umbrella was found somewhere near the church

2.The merchant suggested that the man should___ .

A.buy a new umbrella

B.go on looking for his umbrella

C.write another and better advertisement

D.report the police

3.“. . . if it fails,  I’ll buy you a new one” suggested that the merchant____ .

A.was quite sure of success

B.wanted to buy him a new umbrella

C.didn’t know what to do

D.was rich enough to buy one

4.The story is mainly about _____.

A.a useless advertisement

B.how to make an effective advertisement

C.how the man lost and found his umbrella

D.what the merchant did for the umbrella owner

 

First the ground shook in Haiti, then Chile and Turkey. The earthquakes keep coming hard and fast this year, causing people to wonder if something evil (邪恶的) is happening underfoot. It’s not.

While it may seem as if there are more earthquakes occurring, there really aren’t. The problem is what’s happening above ground, not underground, experts say. More people are moving into big cities that happen to be built in quake zones, and they’re rapidly putting up buildings that can’t withstand (经受) earthquakes, scientists believe. And around-the-clock news coverage (报道) and better earthquake monitoring(监测) make it seem as if earthquakes are ever-present.

“I can definitely tell you that the world is not coming to an end,” said Bob Holdsworth, an expert in tectonics (筑造学) at Durharn University in the UK.

A 7.0 magnitude quake in January killed more than 230,000 people in Haiti. Last month, an 8.8 magnitude quake--- the fifth-strongest since 1900—killed more than 900 people in Chile. And two weeks ago, a 6.0 magnitude quake struck rural eastern Turkey, killing at least 57 people.

On average, there are 134 earthquakes a year that have a magnitude between 6.0 and 6.9, according to the US Geological Survey. This year is off to a fast start with 40 so far—more than in most years for that time period.

But that’s because the 8.8 quake in Chile generated a large number of strong aftershocks, and so many quakes early this year skews (扭曲) the picture, said Paul Earle, a US seismologist (地震学家).

Also, it’s not the number of quakes, but their devastating impacts(破坏性的影响) that gain attention, with the death tolls (死亡人数) largely due to construction standards (building standard) and crowding, Earle added. “The standard mantra (咒语) is earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do, ” he said.

There have been more deaths over the past decades from earthquakes, said University of Colorado geologist Roger Bilham. In an opinion column last month in the journal Nature, Bilham called for better construction standards in the world’s big cities.

Of the 130 cities worldwide with populations of more than 1 million, more than half are prone (倾向于) to earthquakes, Bilham said.

Developing nations, where populations are growing, don’t pay attention to earthquake preparedness, Bilham said.” If you have a problem feeding yourself, you’re not really going to worry about earthquakes.”

Another reason quakes seem worse is that we’re paying attention more. The Haiti earthquake quickly followed by the 8.8 in Chile made everyone start to think.

But it won’t last, said US disaster researcher Deniis Mileti. “People are paying attention to the violent planet we’ve always lived on,” Mileti said.” Come back in another six months if there has been no earthquakes, most people will have forgotten it again. ”

1. What is the main idea of the article?

A. The number of earthquakes is increasing this year.     

B. The reasons why earthquakes are so devastating.

C. The reasons why recent earthquakes have struck large cities.

D. Why earthquakes seem to be more serious this year.

2. Which of the following is NOT a reason for the seeming increase in earthquakes this year,

according to the article?

A. Greater underground activity.      

B. A larger number of buildings prone to damage during earthquakes.

C. Around-the-clock news coverage.   

D. Better earthquake monitoring.

3. According to the article, it is safe to say that ______.

A. there is an evil force beneath the world’s surface

B. large cities are always built in quake zones

C. enough attention has been paid to reducing the impact of earthquakes

D. the earthquake in Chili caused many aftershocks.

4.According to the article, the greater damage of earthquakes this year can be mainly caused by ______.

A. the occurrence of larger earthquakes

B. not enough warnings about earthquakes

C. poor construction standards and overcrowding

D. an increase in large cities

 

 

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