第二部分：阅读理解 (共两节，19小题，每题2分, 满分38分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。
A
A major earthquake rocked Haiti at 4:53 pm local time on Jan.12, 2010, killing possibly thousands of people but no official figure has been released so far.
The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks. In the space of a minute, numerous buildings fell down. A five-story U.N. building was also brought down by the 7.3 magnitude quake, the most powerful to hit Haiti in more than 200 years according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
As night fell, the whole city is in total darkness. You can see thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go. There are people running, crying, screaming. Describing the earthquake as a "catastrophe", Haiti’s president said the cost of the damage could run into billions.
Haiti became the first independent Caribbean state in the early 19th century. Haiti's location, history and attracting climate once made it a tourist hot place. However, decades of poverty, environmental pollution and violence have left it as the poorest nation in the Americans. It has suffered a lot, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.
41. The great earthquake happened to the _______ of the capital city.
A. south-west B. north-west C. south-east D. north-east
42. What can we infer from the underlined sentence?
A. People in Port-au-Prince don’t like to light on.
B. The earthquake happened in the evening.
C. Electricity in the city was cut off that night.
D. There are no lights at all in Port-au-Prince.
43. Which statement about Haiti is NOT true?
A. Haiti became an independent state in the early 19th century.
B. Haiti belongs to Americas, just like Canada, America and so on.
C. At one time, tourism was important to the economy of Haiti.
D. Haiti is a country where such strong quakes often take place.
