A
Earthquakes have killed many people and have caused serious damage to people's life.Here are some of the worst earthquakes that happened around the world.
Haiti Earthquake
A great earthquake hit Haiti on 12 January 2010.Its center was located just southwest of PortAuPrince, the capital and largest city of Haiti.It is the strongest earthquake to hit the country since 1770.It led to 100，000 to 316，000 deaths and left 2 million people homeless and 3 million people in need of immediate help.At least $195 million have been given by different countries, along with a large number of rescue workers to support (支援) rescue efforts.
Kashmir Earthquake
The Kashmir earthquake happened on the morning of 8 October 2005.It was centered near the city of Muzaffarabad.The official number of deaths was 75，000 and there were 106，000 people who were injured.As Saturday is a normal school day in the area, most students were at schools when the earthquake happened.Many young people were buried under destroyed school buildings.Many people were also trapped in their homes.Reports said that entire towns and villages were completely wiped out in northern Pakistan.The serious damage was mainly because of poor buildings.
Indian Ocean Earthquake
Known as the SumatraAndaman earthquake, Indian Ocean Earthquake happened on 26 December 2004.While the earthquake itself lasted for only 10 seconds, it caused a tsunami (海啸).The tsunami killed about 200，000 to 310，000 people along the shores (海滨) of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South India and Thailand.There was one death even happening at Port Elizabeth in South Africa, 8，000 miles away from the center.
语篇解读：本文是一篇应用文。文章简要介绍了世界上三次较为严重的地震。
1．What can be learnt from Paragraph 2?
A．Haiti is a poor country.
B．Haiti suffered many disasters.
C．Over 400，000 people died in the earthquake.
D．Haiti received international help after the earthquake.
解析：选D 细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句可知，海地发生地震后，得到了来自不同国家的资金和人员的援助。
2．Why were many young people buried in Kashmir Earthquake?
A．Because it is the strongest in history.
B．Because its center was near Muzaffarabad.
C．Because it happened during the school time.
D．Because there were too many school buildings.
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第三段中的As Saturday is a normal school day in the area可知，因为克什米尔发生地震时正是学生们上课的时间，因此很多年轻人在地震中被埋。
3．Why does the author mention a death in South Africa in the last paragraph?
A．To suggest South Africa is far away.
B．To show how strong the earthquake was.
C．To tell us the earthquake killed many people.
D．To prove the earthquake was felt by South Africa.
解析：选B 推理判断题。根据最后一段中的8，000 miles away from the center可知，甚至在距离震中八千英里以外的南非都有一人遇难，作者借此说明此次地震之严重，波及面之广。
