阅读表达。
Earthquakes are one of the most powerful natural forces on earth and regularly affect people around the
world. Unlike often equally damaging severe weather events such as hurricanes and tornadoes, earthquakes
can hit at any time. Earthquakes can also have a range of magnitudes (震级) with the strongest having
destructive consequences for the areas where they are centered, nearby areas, and even some far away areas
in the case of earthquake-created tsunamis (海啸).
Until relatively recently, geologists and other scientists were not entirely sure what caused earthquakes.
Now with increasing technology, they are able to give more solid reasons for them.
Earthquakes are defined as a shaking of the earth's surface that occurs after a release of energy in the
earth's crust (壳).
Because the earth's crust is made up of numerous plates that are constantly moving slowly, shakings can
occur and result in small earthquakes. Most earthquakes are quite small so they are not readily felt. Larger
and more violent earthquakes are those that occur in a release of energy as the plates slide past or run into
one another.
Large earthquakes can focus on the boundaries where two plates meet, but they are not limited to these
areas. As the plates move, breaks in the earth's crust develop and earthquakes are often located on them.
These breaks are referred to as faults, of which there are three types and all create earthquakes when they
move.
In all of these faults, the most damaging earthquakes happen when the blocks of rock become locked
together due to the intense friction (摩擦) created when they move. As they continue attempting to move
once they are locked, pressure continues to build until it has enough energy to move the rock and the blocks
move, creating an earthquake.
In addition to the main shaking created by an earthquake, there are often foreshocks and aftershocks.
Foreshocks generally increase in magnitude leading to the main earthquake, whereas aftershocks happen
_____ and decrease in strength.
1. What would be the best title for the passage? (Please answer within 10 words.)
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2. Which sentence in the passage is the closest in meaning to the following one? Most earthquakes are so
small that people can't feel them when they occur.
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3. Fill in the blank in the last paragraph with proper words. ( Please answer within 6 words.)
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4. Why do you think earthquakes happen? (Please answer within 30 words.)
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5. Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 into Chinese.
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