The largest earthquake of the 20th century happened on May 22, 1960 off the coas

The largestearthquake ( magnitude里氏 9.5)of the 20th century happened on May 22, 1960 off the coast of South CentralChile. ?

It generated(生成) one of the most destructive Pacificwide tsunamis(海啸). Near the generating area, both theearthquake and the tsunami were very much destructive, particularly in thecoastal area from Concep-cion to the south end of Isla Chiloe. The largesttsunami damage occurred at Isla Chiloe -----the coastal area closest to theepicenter(震中). Huge tsunami waves measuring as high as25 meters arrived within 10 to 15 minutes after the earthquake, killing atleast two hundred people, sinking all the boats, and flooding half a kilometerinland. ?

There was largedamage and loss of life at Concep-cion, Chile's top industrial city. Near thecity of Valdivia, the earthquake and following aftershocks generated landslideswhich killed 18 people. At the port city of Valparaiso, a city of 200,000, manybuildings collapsed . A total of 130,000 houses were destroyed one inevery three in the earthquake zone and nearly 2,000,000 people were lefthomeless.?

Total damage losses,including to agriculture and to industry, were estimated(估计) to be over a half billion dollars .The total number of death related with both the tsunami and the earthquake wasnever found accurately for the region. Estimates of deaths reached between4,900 to 57,002 with no distinction(差别) as to how manydeaths were caused by the earthquake and how many were caused by the tsunami.However, it is believed that most of the deaths in Chile were caused by thetsunami.

1.Where did thelargest tsunami damage occurred? ?

A. Concep--cion.    B. IslaChiloe.     C. Valdivia     D. Valparaiso. 

2.What can we learnabout the tsunami waves generated by the earthquake? ?

A. The tsunami waves as high as 25 meters arrivedimmediately after the earthquake.

B. The tsunami waves killed 200 people and sank all theboats. ?

C. The tsunami waves were very destructive. ?

D. The tsunami waves flooded half of the inland.

3.What is the totalnumber of deaths in the earthquake? ?

A. About 2,000,000.            B. Between 4,900 to 57,002.?

C. About200,000.              D. It was hard to know.

4.What does theunderlined word "collapsed" in the third paragragh probably mean ?

A. was destroyed      B. caughtfire      C. was flooded     D. sank

试题答案

【答案】

1.B

2.C

3.D

4.A