Two Earthquakes in Two Months:
Comparing the Quakes in Haiti (海地) and Chile (智利)
Overview (概要) How do the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti compare? Here, students perform a gallery walk to learn more about the earthquakes from a specific point, and then do a specific research and presentation project or response activity. Finally, they seek answers to their unanswered questions.
Materials Print copies of photographs, charts, documents and other visuals to display, as described below; computer (s) with Internet access (optional), research materials, handouts.
Warm-up Choose and prepare a “gallery” of photographs, graphics, news reports and other materials to display around the room to enable students to consider the 2010 earthquake in Chile.
Depending on course program, choose materials for the gallery that provide a window on the two quakes, through one of the following specific points, or the focus of your choice:
Earthquakes through History Putting the 2010 Chilean and Haitian quakes into historical view related to other earthquakes, including the 1960 Chilean quake and the 2004 Asian earthquake and tsunami.
Rescue and Aid Considering domestic and international response to the disasters by militaries, governments and aid organizations, including rescue and recovery as well as efforts to provide food, water, health care and shelter to those affected.
Related The article Underwater Plate Cuts 400 Mile Gash compares several earthquakes:
Mr. Lin figured that the quake on Saturday was 250 to 350 times more powerful than the Haitian quake.
But Paul Caruso noted that at least on land, the effects of the Chilean tremor (震动) might not be as bad. For one thing, he said, the quality of building construction is generally better in Chile than in Haiti. And the fact that the quake occurred offshore should also help limit the destruction. In Haiti, the rupture (断裂) occurred only a few miles from the capital, Port-au-Prince. The rupture on Saturday was centered about 60 miles from the nearest town, Chillan, and 70 miles from the country’s second-largest city, Concepción.
Read the article using the following questions.
Questions For discussion with others and reading comprehension:
How does the 2010 Chilean earthquake compare to the 1960 Chilean earthquake?
Why do scientists believe that the 2010 Chilean earthquake will not cause the same level of damage as January’s Haitian earthquake did?
How does the 2010 Chilean earthquake compare to the 2004 Indonesian earthquake?
What reasons do scientists give to explain why the Indonesian quake caused so much more damage than the recent Chilean earthquake?
64. Which of the following shows one of the reasons for slighter losses in Chile than in Haiti?
A. Position:
     
B. Power:

65. We can infer that the article Underwater Plate Cuts 400 Mile Gash includes ________.
A. the causes of the 2010 Chilean earthquake and the 1960 Chilean earthquake
B. the comparison between the 2010 Haitian and the 2004 Indonesian earthquakes
C. the reason for the 2010 Chilean quake being more powerful than January’s Haitian earthquake
D. the reason for less damage in the 2010 Chilean quake than in the 2004 Indonesian earthquake
66. What is the passage most likely to be?
A. A program for research.                           B. A guide to earthquake study.
C. An advertisement for students.                       D. An introduction to quakes.

2010 was the year the Earth struck back.

Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards(暴风雪), landslides(滑坡)and droughts

killed at least a quarter million people in 2010---the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.

“It just seemed like it was back-to-back (接二连三) and it came waves,” said Craig Fugate, who heads the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.

“The term ' 100-year event ' really lost its meaning this year.”

And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say.

Even though many disasters seem accidental, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and strange year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.

Poor construction and development practices make earthquake more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable building (危房) in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes the river breaches(攻破), or the tropical cyclone (旋风) hits, more people die.

The January earthquake that killed well more than 220000 people in Haita is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people, many of them living in poverty, and more poorly built shanties (棚户区) than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010, total deaths would have probably been in the 80 000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University.

Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing thanks to man-made global warning, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.

The excessive (过多的) amount of extreme weather of 2010 is a clear sign of man-made global warning that climate scientists have long warned about. They calculate that the killer Russian heat wave ---setting a national record of 111 degrees --- would happen once every 100000 years without global warning.

Preliminary (之前的) data show that 18 counties broke their records for the hottest day ever.

White House science adviser John Holdren said we should get used to climate disasters or do something about global warning. "The science is clear that we can expect more and more of these kinds of damaging events unless and until society's emissions of heat-trapping (吸热的)gases and particles are sharply reduce."

1. What does the second paragraph mainly tell us?

A．How the Earth struck back in 2010.           B. Why the Earth struck back.

C．How terrorism attacks struck.                D. What natural disaster mean to us.

2.What does the underlined word "it" refer to in the third paragraph?

A． Earthquake.     B. The Earth.     C. 2010           D. Natural disaster.

3.What do the fifth, sixth and seventh paragraphs mainly tell us?

A. The reason why there were so mainly disasters in 2010.

B. The way that natural disasters happened.

C. The way that man built buildings.

D. The way that people lived.

4.What is the way to cut back on the number of natural disasters?

A. To build stronger houses.                  

B．To develop less.

C. To reduce the emissions of heat-trapping gases and particles greatly.

D. To forecast the happening of natural disasters correctly.

5.Why did the writer give the example of the earthquake that happened in Haiti?

A. To show more people's living in vulnerable building can cause more people to die in an earthquake.

B. To show Haiti is a poor country.            

C．To show Port-au-Prince is too crowded.

D．To show man's forecast ability of an earthquake reduced.

The unimaginable earthquake in Haiti has shocked the world. Thanks to modern communication technology, the world has seen the scale of destruction by the 7.0- magnitude quake. Images on TV and the Internet show the Haiti capital has been reduced to rubble and helpless survivors waiting for relief.

So far, at least 50,000 people are feared dead, and tens of thousands left injured or homeless in one of the poorest countries in the West. The number of dead is rising with each passing hour for a few days. Considering Haiti’s total population is only about 8.5 million, the extent of damage will reach every field of the country’s social structures.

Rescuers from countries such as China, the United States, France and Dominican Republic have already reached Haiti, carrying necessary things like food and medicines, life-detecting devices and other rescue equipment. Politicians，workers and Hollywood actors have opened their wallets and called for donations to help disaster relief. The whole world is ready to help them. The world is a village today where no one can remain indifferent when a neighbor falls in disaster.

The suffering of people anywhere in the world strikes the hearts of Chinese people. The death of eight Chinese peacekeepers in Haiti has little to do with it. Chinese people feel a special sympathy for Haitians because just less than 20 months ago they were struggling to rise from the earthquake.

Though Beijing and Port-au-Prince have no diplomatic relations, China was among the first nations to send a rescue team and to announce a donation. In the face of natural disasters, respect for human lives overtakes diplomacy and national boundaries. We share the pain of the Haitian people, and we believe China’s experience in rescue and operations and reconstructions will help reduce that pain.

The most pressing task after a quake is the golden-hour rescue operation. Many Haitians are buried under rubble, and relentless efforts must be made to save as many of them as possible. Yet there remains a question on how effectively the flows of aid from around the world be managed. It is here that the UN can play the leading role, for it should be responsible for common humanitarian efforts from across the globe to reach the benefits to the maximum number of people.

After the 2004 tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in Asia, some experts said the UN needed to build a well-equipped and trained force disaster rescue specialists and keep it on standby to help people after natural disasters such as the Haiti quake. It is time the UN gave the idea a serious thought, for a life-saving force could play as important as its peacekeeping soldiers.

60.According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A.The number of Haiti’s total population is about 8.5 billion

B.Rescuers from many countries have reached Haiti, carrying necessary things like food, water and medicines.

C.Chinese people feel a special sympathy for Haitians because we have the same experiences.

D.The flows of aid from the world has been managed well.

61.The word “indifferent” underlined in the third paragraph most probably means ______.

A.cruel         B.friendly        C.cold         D.warm

62. We can infer that people around the world actively help the Haitians because ______.

A.people among countries have close relations

B.earthquake is a natural disaster, people respect human lives, and show common feelings to people in trouble

C.people should be responsible

D.people have ever been rescued by Haitians

63.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A.The UN plays an important role

B.We are with you, Haiti

C.People share the pain with the Haitian people

D.Modern communication technology is used widely

THIS was the year the Earth struck back.

Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, snow storms, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter of a million people in 2010 – the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.

"It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who heads the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.

And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say.

Even though many catastrophes have the ring of random chance, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and weird（古怪的） year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.

Poor construction and development practices conspire to make earthquakes more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable（脆弱的） buildings in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes, the river breaches, or the tropical cyclone hits, more people die.

Disasters from the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanoes "are pretty much constant," said Andreas Schraft, vice president of catastrophic perils for the Geneva-based insurance giant Swiss Re. "All the change that's made is man-made."

The January earthquake that killed well more than 220,000 people in Haiti is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people - many of them living in poverty - and more poorly built shanties than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010, total deaths would have probably been in the 80,000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University.

In February, an earthquake that was more than 500 times stronger than the one that struck Haiti hit an area of Chile that was less populated, better constructed, and not as poor. Chile's bigger quake caused fewer than 1,000 deaths.

Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.

In the summer, one weather system caused oppressive heat in Russia, while farther south it caused flooding in Pakistan that inundated 161,200 square kilometers, about the size of Wisconsin. That single heat-and-storm system killed almost 17,000 people, more people than all the worldwide airplane crashes in the past 15 years.

Scientists have calculated that the killer Russian heat wave—setting a national record of 43.9℃—would happen once every 100,000 years without global warming.

1.What is responsible for the most human deaths in 2010?

A．Natrual disasters.                                      B．Terrorist attacks.

    C．Poor buildings.                      D．Too rapid developrnent.

2.According to Andreas Schraft,             .

A．earthquakes are happening more often because of human beings

B．earthquakes are causing more damage because of human beings

C．stronger houses should be built to limit storm damage

D．Port—au—Prince is now overpopulated

3.The main point of the article is to           

A．list the natural disasters that occurred in 2010

B．give the details of some natural disasters of 2010

C．warn that more natural disasters are to strike

D．blame humanity for not helping those affected by the disasters

THIS was the year the Earth struck back.
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, snow storms, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter of a million people in 2010 – the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.
"It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who heads the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.
And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say.
Even though many catastrophes have the ring of random chance, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and weird（古怪的） year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.
Poor construction and development practices conspire to make earthquakes more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable（脆弱的） buildings in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes, the river breaches, or the tropical cyclone hits, more people die.
Disasters from the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanoes "are pretty much constant," said Andreas Schraft, vice president of catastrophic perils for the Geneva-based insurance giant Swiss Re. "All the change that's made is man-made."
The January earthquake that killed well more than 220,000 people in Haiti is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people - many of them living in poverty - and more poorly built shanties than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010, total deaths would have probably been in the 80,000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University.
In February, an earthquake that was more than 500 times stronger than the one that struck Haiti hit an area of Chile that was less populated, better constructed, and not as poor. Chile's bigger quake caused fewer than 1,000 deaths.
Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.
In the summer, one weather system caused oppressive heat in Russia, while farther south it caused flooding in Pakistan that inundated 161,200 square kilometers, about the size of Wisconsin. That single heat-and-storm system killed almost 17,000 people, more people than all the worldwide airplane crashes in the past 15 years.
Scientists have calculated that the killer Russian heat wave—setting a national record of 43.9℃—would happen once every 100,000 years without global warming.
【小题1】What is responsible for the most human deaths in 2010?