单选题
Historically, humans get serious about avoiding disasters only after one has just struck them. (1) that logic, 2006 should have been a breakthrough year for rational behavior. With the memory of 9/11 still (2) in their minds, Americans watched hurricane Katrina, the most expensive disaster in U.S. history, on (3) TV. Anyone who didn't know it before should have learned that bad things can happen. And they are made (4) worse by our willful blindness to risk as much as our (5) to work together before everything goes to hell. Granted, some amount of delusion is probably part of the (6) condition. In A.D. 63, Pompeii was seriously damaged by an earthquake, and the locals immediately went to work ()7 , in the same spot—until they were buried altogether by a volcano eruption 16 years later. But a (8) of the past year in disaster history suggests that modern Americans are particularly bad at (9) themselves from guaranteed threats. We know more than we (10) did about the dangers we face. But it turns (11) that in times of crisis, our greatest enemy is (12) the storm, the quake or the (13) itself. More often, it is ourselves. So what has happened in the year that (14) the disaster on the Gulf Coast. In New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineers has worked day and night to rebuild the floodwalls. They have got the walls to (15) they were before Katrina, more or less. That's not (16) , we can now say with confidence. But it may be all (17) can be expected from one year of hustle. Meanwhile, New Orleans officials have crafted a plan to use buses and trains to (18) the sick and the disabled. The city estimates that 15,000 people will need a (19) out. However, state officials have not yet determined where these people will be taken. The (20) with neighboring communities are ongoing and difficult.
【答案解析】[解析] 考查名词辨析。由the past year in disaster history可知应是对过去一年发生的灾难的回顾，所以应选A．review。reminder意为“令人回忆起……的东西，提醒……的东西”，concept意为“观念，概念”，prospect意为“前景，期望”，均不符合语境。
单选题
A. preparing B. protesting C. protecting D. prevailing
【答案解析】[解析] 考查逻辑关系及动词辨析。空前的现在完成时态表明，该段内容主要阐述the disaster on the Gulf Coast以后所发生的事情，因此本空应填入表示“后续”意义的词，从而答案锁定在ensued和followed之间，但ensue表示“跟着发生”时为不及物动词，后面不能跟宾语，故排除。因此本题答案为C．followed。