单选题 After the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1994, earthquake scientists had good news to report: The damage and death toll could have been much worse.
More than 60 people died in this earthquake. (26) comparison, an earthquake of similar intensity that shook America in 1988 (27) 25,000 victims. (28) and deaths were relatively less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4:31 a.m. on a holiday, (29) traffic was light on the city's highways. In addition, changes made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have (30) the city's buildings and highways, making them more (31) to quakes.
Despite the good news, civil engineers aren't (32) on their successes. (33) to their drawing boards are blueprints for improved quake-resistant buildings. The new designs should (34) even greater security to cities where earthquakes often take place.
In the past, making structures quake-resistant meant final yet (35) materials, such as steel and wood, which (36) without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and (37) rubber and steel between the building and (38) foundation to reduce the (39) of ground vibrations. The most recent designs give buildings (40) as well as concrete and steel supports. Called smart buildings, the structures (41) like living organisms to an earthquake's vibrations. When the ground shakes and the building (42) forward, the computer would force the building to (43) in the opposite direction.
The new smart structures could be very (44) to build. However, they would (45) many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.

单选题 A. For B. In C. From D. By

单选题 A. clasped B. exclaimed C. clapped D. claimed

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】地震使得二万五千人成为牺牲品。claim一词除了有“要求承认某人之身份、所有权或对(某物)享有某种权利，宣称”等意思外，还有“以……为其成果(或后果)”的意思。在此句中，地震以二万五千人为其后果，即地震造成二万五千人的伤亡。

单选题 A. Mortalities B. Wounds C. Injuries D. Morality

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】这里要选择C，injuries and deaths的意思是“伤亡人数”。injury含义较广，侧重表示由于重大事故而使身体的某部分受到伤害造成暂时行动不便，其引申义为伤害感情、诋毁声誉、损害权益，间或可指损坏东西。mortalities的意思是“死亡人数，死亡率”， wounds的意思是“伤，伤口”，侧重表示用利器或子弹等对身体造成较严重的外伤，尤指战斗中负伤，亦表示感情上受伤害。

单选题 A. where B. whenC. which D. that

单选题 A. strengthened B. enforced C. empowered. D. stretched

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】由文章第一和第三段可知，1994年洛杉矶的地震造成的人员伤亡人数不多，这一方面是因为地震发生在一个假日的凌晨，当时公路上车流稀疏，另一方面是因为洛杉矶建筑物标准的改变加固了城市建筑物，让其抗震能力更强。由此可知，此题要选择A。

单选题 A. refusing B. objection C. resistant D. resolute

单选题 A. depending B. resting C. relying D. counting

单选题 A. Pinned B. Pinning C. Piled D. Piling

单选题 A. offer B. offend C. afford D. effort

单选题 A. flourish B. flexible C. fierce D. financial

单选题 A. bead B. bent C. curve D. curse

单选题 A. inspect B. insect C. insert D. thrust

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】由此空所在句子的意思我们知道，人们试图把建筑物抬离基座，以便在其间插入橡胶和钢铁，以减少大地震动的冲击力。所以此空要填入一个表示“插入”意思的单词，即 insert，故选择C。insert的意思是to put something into something else，or into a hole or space。虽然thrust也有“插入”意，但其是指to put something somewhere with a quick hard push，且不能与between搭配使用。