A powerful earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan at two forty-six p.m. local time on March eleventh.2011. Japan's Meteorological Agency released its first tsunami（海啸） warnings just three minutes later. The country has one of the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.

There are more than four thousand Seismic Intensity Meters in place throughout Japan to measure earthquake activity. These meters provide information within two minutes of an earthquake happening. Information about the strength and the center of the earthquake can be learned within three minutes.

There are also concrete(混凝土) sea walls around much of the Japanese coastline. But these measures proved no match for the powerful earthquake and tsunami.

Costas Synolakis ，a tsunami expert at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said，"Japan is one of those most well-prepared countries on earth in terms of tsunami warning. They had a warning. I think what went wrong is that they had not expected the size of this event."

He says there are two reasons for this. Japan has not had any event anywhere near as big as this one in the last one hundred fifty years. And scientists had not expected such a large earthquake happening off the coast of Japan.

The nine point zero magnitude earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded worldwide. It was also the worst earthquake ever to hit Japan. The tsunami waves that followed were reported to have reached as high as thirteen meters in some areas.

Costas Synolakis says Japan's concrete sea walls were not built to handle such high waves.

Experts say early warning systems will continue to be limited by these facts until earthquakes and tsunamis can be predicted

Where can this passage probably be adapted from?

    A．A magazine on science       B．A fairy Tale 

C．A scientific fantasy book     D．A newspaper  

Which of the following statements NOT true ?

    A. A terrible earthquake hit the northeastern coast of Japan

    B. It was also the worst earthquake in Japan

C. The 9.0 earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan

D. Japan's concrete sea walls was unable to handle such high waves.

According to Costas Synolakis, why did Japan suffer such a loss?

  A. The country has never experienced any event as big as this one over the past 150 years

B. Japan has the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.

C. There are not concrete sea walls around all of the Japanese coastline

D. The government didn’t announce its first tsunami warnings three minutes earlier.

What's On

Stage

An acrobatic(杂技) soul: To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the China Acrobatic Troupe will present "The Soul of China", where the seemingly impossible is made real. Chills(寒战) will run down your spine (脊柱) as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge

Time: 7:30p. m,Septemberl3—19

Place: Capital Theatre,22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District

Exhibitions

Joint show: A group ink painting exhibition is running at the Huangshicheng Art Gallery in Beijing.

About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display.

Time: 9 a.m. —5 p.m.until September 10

Place: Huangshicheng Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng Distirct

Oil paintings: The Wanfung Art Gallery will host a joint show of oil paintings by 10 young and middle — aged artists. On display are more than 30 of their latest works, which capture(捕捉) he wonderous variety of life in unique(独特的) styles.

Time: 9 a.m. —4 p.m.until September 15

Place: 136 Nanchizi Street, Dongcheng District

Literature (文学) museum: The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers an in —depth study of the evolution of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949.

Time: 9 a.m. — 4 p.m, daily

Place: 45 Anyuan Donglu, Chaoyang District(Shaoyaoju area)

Conarts

Beijing rocks: "The Fashionow Night of Chinese Rock" is set to bring rock fans out by the thousands next month. Nine Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals. The audience(听众) will be given a chance to decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a storm.

Time: September 16

Place: The Olympic Center

Belgium Orchestra (管弦乐队): La Petite Bande, the Baroque Orchestra of Belgium, will perform in Beijing at the Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as part of activities across the world to commemorate(纪念) the 250th anniversary of Bach' s death.

Time: 7:30 p.m. September l1—14

Place: Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities

What do you think of the acrobatic show mentioned here?

A．When you watch it, you will certainly feel cold.

B．Something strange will puzzle everyone, including scientists.

C．Unexpected things will make you excited and surprised.

D．Even the bravest ones will be too frightened to go on watching.

The most characteristic thing about the Fashionow Night of Chinese Rock is that_________.

A．it will let the audience choose the performers and the music

B．it is to bring thousands of rock fans out of their homes

C．it will certainly cause a rock storm throughout China

D．it is to be held in memory of one of the greatest musicians

Suppose it is September 14 today, how marry activities can people choose to attend?

A．2　　　　　　　 B．3　　　　　　　　 C．4　　　　　　　　D．5

On the whole, we can conclude__________.

A．people in Beijing prefer modem culture to something traditional

B．there are usually more cultural activities in September than in any other month

C．most of the cultural activities in Beijing are for foreign visitors only

D．we can enjoy a large variety of cultural activities in Beijing

What’s On

Stage

An acrobatic（杂技）soul: To celebrate its 50th anniversary , the China Acrobatic Troupe will present “The Soul of China”, where the seemingly impossible is made real . Chills（寒战）will run down your spine（脊柱）as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge .

Time : 7:30 p.m , September13—19

Place : Capital Theatre , 22 Wangfujing Dajie , Dongcheng District

Exhibitions

Joint Show : A group ink painting exhibition is running at the Huangshicheng Art Gallery in Beijing . About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display .

Time : 9 a .m —5p. m. until September 10

Place : Huangshicheng Gallery , 136 Nanchizi Dajie , Dongcheng Distirct

Oil paintings : The Wanfung Art Galley will host a joint show of oil paintings by 10 young and middle-aged artists . On display are more than 30 of their latest works , which capture（捕捉）the wondrous variety of life in unique（独特的）styles .

Time : 9 a.m. —4p.m until September 15

Place: 136 Nachizi Street , Dongcheng District

Literature（文学）museum : The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers an indepth study of the evolution of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949 .

Time : 9 a. m —4 p.m , daily

Place: 45 Anyuan Donglu , Chaoyang District（Shaoyaoju area ）

Concerts

Beijing rocks : “ The Fashionow Night of Chinese Rock” is set to bring rock fans out by the thousands next month . Nine Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert , including older generation bands , middle generation and some recent arrivals. The audience（听众）will be given a chance to decide what songs they want to hear , which is sure to bring a storm .

Time: September 16

Place: The Olympic Center

Belgium Orchestra（管弦乐队）:La Petite Bande , the Baroque Orchestra of Belgium will perform in Beijing at the Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as part of activities across the world to commemorate（纪念）the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death .

Time: 7:30 p.m . September11—14

Place: Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities

What do you think of the acrobatic show mentioned here ?

A．When you watch it , you will certainly feel cold .

B．Something strange will puzzle everyone , including scientists .

C．Unexpected things will make you excited and surprised .

D．Even the bravest ones will be too frightened to go on watching .

The most characteristic thing about the Fashionow Night of Chinese Rock is that_______ .

A．it will let the audience choose the performers and the music

B．it is to bring thousands of rock fans out of their homes

C．it will certainly cause a rock storm throughout China

D．it is to be held in memory of one of the greatest musicians

Suppose it is September 14 today , how many activities can people choose to attend ?

A．2        B．3           C． 4           D．5

On the whole ,we can conclude _________________.

A．people in Beijing prefer modern culture to something traditional

B．there are usually more cultural activities in September than in any other month

C．most of the cultural activities in Beijing are for foreign visitors only

D．we can enjoy a large variety of cultural activities in Beijing

A 10-year-old boy fatally shot his father Friday, striking him several times as he sat in the front seat of a SUV to pick up the boy from his mother’s home for a weekend visit.

The incident happened about 3:45 p.m. on a cul-de-sac (死胡同) in the 1700 block of Cedar Cove Court, said Sgt. B. E. Williams of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department.

An investigation found that Rick James Lohstroh, 41, was shot by his son, who was sitting in the back seat of the man’s Toyota 4-Runner, said Sgt. B. E. Williams of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department. The shooting took place outside the home of Lohstroh’s ex-wife, where the boy lives with his mother and a 7-year-old brother.

“We’re not certain of anything until we finish our investigation,” Williams said. “The information we have at this time is that the 10-year-old did fire the weapon.”

The mother and the 7-year-old were inside the house when the shooting occurred, said Williams.

Williams said the gun belonged to the boy’s mother. After firing shots through the back seat, the boy exited(退出) the back of the vehicle and continued to fire at the car.

The man died on the way to Memorial Herman Hospital. Lohstroh was a doctor at the University of Texas Medical Branch. The man and woman shared custody（监护）of the children. Williams said the mother and the boy were still in the home talking to investigators Friday night.

Neighbors described the family as being quiet and keeping to themselves.

Justin Gray, 17, was walking in the neighborhood when he heard gunshots. “We’ve had a suicide（自杀）in this neighborhood once, but never anything like this,” Gray said.

The best title for the news should be         .

A. A Boy Shot His Father                    B. Shooting Kill a Father

C. An Unbelievable Tragedy  D. A Ten-Year-Old Boy’s Cruelty

Which of the following is TRUE according to the news?

A. The father is not responsible for the boy.

B. The family don’t like associating with their neighbours.

C. The boy lives with Rick James Lohstroh.

D. The boy has no brothers or sisters.

What can we infer from the report?

A. The tragedy happened because the boy had seen too many films showing violence.

B. The boy killed his father after he quarreled with his father.

C. Such things often occurred in this neighbourhood.

D. The boy’s parents got divorced (离婚).

The reason why the boy shot his father       .

A. is clear  B. can’t be made out  C. is not known             D. is quite simple

A few months ago as I wandered through my parents’ house, the same house I grew up in, I had a sudden, scary realization. When my parents bought the house, in 1982, they were only two years older than I am now. I tried to imagine myself in two years, ready to settle down and buy the house I’d still be living in almost 30 years later.
It seemed ridiculous. On a practical level, there’s no way I could afford to buy a house anytime soon. More importantly, I wouldn’t want to. I’m not sure where I’ll be living in two years, or what kind of job I’ll have. And I don’t think I’ll be ready to settle down and stay in one place.
So this is probably the generation gap that divides my friends and me from our parents. When our parents were our age, they’d gotten their education, chosen a career, and were starting to settle into responsible adult lives.
My friends and I – “Generation Y” – still aren’t sure what we want to do with our lives. Whatever we end up doing, we want to make sure we’re happy doing it. We’d rather take risks first, try out different jobs, and move from one city to another until we find our favorite place. We’d rather spend our money on travel than put it in a savings account.
This casual attitude toward responsibility has caused some critics to call my generation “arrogant”, “impatient”, and “overprotected”. Some of these complaints have a point. As children we were encouraged to succeed in school, but also to have fun. We grew up in a world full of technological innovation: cellphones, the Internet, instant messaging, and video games.
Our parents looked to rise vertically(垂直的)--starting at the bottom of the ladder and slowly making their way to the top, on the same track, often for the same company. That doesn’t apply to my generation.
Because of that, it may take us longer than our parents to arrive at responsible, stable adulthood. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In our desire to find satisfaction, we will work harder, strive for ways to keep life interesting, and gain a broader set of experiences and knowledge than our parents’ generation did.
【小题1】When the author walked through her parents’ house, she _______.