Everyone has heard of the San Andreas fault (断层), which constantly threatens California and the West Coast with earthquakes. But how many people know about the equally serious New Madrid fault in Missouri?
Between December of 1811 and February of 1812, three major earthquakes occurred, all centered around the town of New Madrid, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. Property damage was severe. Buildings in the area were almost destroyed. Whole forests fell at once, and huge cracks opened in the ground, allowing smell of sulfur(硫磺)to filter upward.
The Mississippi River itself completely changed character, developing sudden rapids and whirlpools. Several times it changed its course, and once, according to some observers, it actually appeared to run backwards.Few people were killed in the New Marid earthquakes, probably simply because few people lived in the area in 1811; but the severity of the earthquakes are shown by the fact that the shock waves rang bells in church towers in Charleston, South Carolina, on the coast. Buildings shook in New York City, and clocks wer stopped in Washington, D.C. Scientists now know that America's two major faults are essentially different. The San Andreas is a horizontal boundary between two major land masses that are slowly moving in opposite directions. California earthquakes result when the movement of these two masses suddenly lurches (倾斜) forward.
The New Madrid fault, on the other hand, is a vertical fault; at some points, possibly hundreds of millions of years ago, rock was pushed up toward the surface, probably by volcanoes under the surface. Suddenly, the volcanoes cooled and the rock collapsed, leaving huge cracks. Even now, the rock continues to settle downwards, and sudden sinking motions trigger (触发) earthquakes in the region. The fault itself, a large crack in this layer of rock, with dozens of other cracks that split off from it, extends from northeastArkansas through Missouri and into southern lllinois.
Scientists who have studied the New Madrid fault say there have been numerous smaller quakes in the area since 1811; these smaller quakes indicate that larger ones are probably coming, but the scientists say have no method of predictingwhen a large earthquake will occur.
11. This passage is mainly about .
A)the New Madrid fault in Missouri
B)the San Andreas and the New Madrid faults
C)the causes of faults
D)current scientific knowledge about faults
12. The New Madrid fault is .
A) a horizontal fault
B) a vertical fault
C) a more serious fault than the San Andreas fault
D) responsible for forming the Mississippi River
13. We may conclude from the passage that .
A) it is probably as dangerous to live in Missouri as in California
B) the New Madrid fault will eventually develop a mountain range in Missouri
C) California will become an island in future
D) A big earthquake will occur to California soon
14. This passage implies that .
A) horizontal faults are more dangerous than vertical faults.
B) Vertical faults are more dangerous than horizontal faults
C) Earthquakes occur only around fault areas
D) California will break into pieces by an eventual earthquake
15. As used in the first sentence of the fourth paragraph, the word essentially means .
A) greatly
C) basically
B) extremely
D) necessarily
Passage 4
Those who welcomed the railway saw it as more than a rapid and comfortable means of passing. They actually saw it as afactor in world peace. They did not foresee that the railway would be just one more means for the rapid movement of aggressive armies. None of them foresaw that the more weare together-the more chances there are of war. Any boy or girl who is one of a large family knows that.
Whenever any new invention is put forward, those for it and those against it can always find medical men to approve or condemn. The anti-railway group produced doctors who said that tunnels would be most dangerous to public health: they would produce colds, catarrhs (粘膜炎) and consumptions. The deafening noise and the glare of the engine fire, would have a bad effect on the nerves. Further, being moved through the air at a high speed would do grave injury to delicate lungs. In those with high blood-pressure, the movement of the train might produce apoplexy (中风). The sudden plunging of a train into the darkness of a tunnel, and the equally sudden rush into full daylight, would cause great damage to eyesight. But the pro-railway group was of course able to produce equally famous medical men to say just the opposite. They said that the speed and swing of the train would equalize the circulation, promote digestion, tranquilize the nerves, and ensure good sleep.
The actual rolling-stock was anything but comfortable. If it was a test of endurance to sit for four hours outside a coach in rain, or inside in dirty air, the railway offered little more in the way of comfort. Certainly the first-class carriages had cushioned seats; but the second-class had only narrow bare boards, while the third-class had nothing at all; no seats and no roof; they were just open trucks. So that third-class passengers gained nothing from the few mode except speed. In the matter of comfort, indeed they lost; they did, on the coaches, have a seat, but now they had to stand all the way, which gave opportunities to the comic (滑稽的) press. This kind of thing: A man was seen yesterday buying a third-class ticket for the new London and Birmingham Railway. The state of his mind is being enquired into.
A writer in the early days of railways wrote feelingly of both second-and third-class carriages. He made the suggestion that the directors of the railways must have sent all over the world to find the hardest possible wood. Of the open third-class trucks he said that they had the peculiar property of meeting the rain from whatever quarter it came. He described them as horizontal shower-baths, from whose searching power there was no escape.
16. All boys and girls in large families know that .
A) a boy and a girl usually fight when they are together
B) people tend to be together more than they used to be
C) a lot of people being together makes fights likely
D) Railway leads the world to peace
17. According to those who welcomed the railway, the railway itself should include all the following except .
A) the railway enables people travel fast
B) the railway brings comfort to people
C) the railway makes the world peaceful
D) the railway leads the world to war as well.
18. According to the anti-railway group, all the followings are true but .
A) tunnels are dangerous to public health
B) the noise and the glare of the engine fire may affect people's nerves
C) the rapid speed through the air does damage to people's lungs
D) to those with high blood-pressure, the rapid speed of the train causes them to die
19. We may safely conclude that .
A) the author belongs to the anti-railway group
B) the author belongs to the for-railway group
C) the author speaks highly of the railway
D) the author may never take train because of its potential dangers
20. What is the tone of this passage?
A)Practical
B)Satirical
C)Humorous
D)Exaggerated
相关推荐：2014年考研英语试题及答案阅读理解（汇总）
| 考研英语真题 | 考研数学真题 | 政治真题 |
专业课真题 | ||||
| 英语一真题 | 英语二真题 | 数学一真题 | 数学二真题 | 数学三真题 | 数农真题 | ||
| 考研英语答案 | 考研数学答案 | 政治答案 |
专业课答案 | ||||
| 英语一答案 | 英语二答案 | 数学一答案 | 数学二答案 | 数学三答案 | 数农答案 | ||