A massive earthquake and tsunamis killed 350 people in one Chilean coastal town, doubling the total death number on Sunday as the government tried to get aid to hungry survivors and stop looting(抢劫).
President Michelle Bachelet said at least 708 people had been killed and called for calm as people desperate for food and water looted stores in some areas worst hit by Saturday’s 8.8-magnitude quake, one of the world’s biggest in a century. The earthquake that shook Chile on Saturday morning was “50 times bigger than the one of Haiti.” The earthquake in Chile was far stronger than the one that struck Haiti last month - yet the death number in Haiti, a Caribbean nation, was much higher.
The reasons are simple. Chile is wealthier and infinitely better prepared, with strict building codes, robust emergency response and a long history of handling seismic catastrophes. No living Haitian had experienced a quake at home when the Jan. 12 disaster crumbled their poorly constructed buildings.
Television images showed houses washed away by swirling waters, cars tossed into shattered buildings and boats lifted into the streets in coastal towns including Pelluhue and Constitucion, where 350 deaths alone were reported.
“It’s an enormous disaster ... there’s a growing number of missing people,” Bachelet said, adding that food and medical aid was being sent to help the roughly 2 million people affected by the quake. Chile is making great efforts to deal with a formidable task caused by the earthquake how to provide temporary shelter for so many people.
A lack of water, food and fuel sharpened the hardship for the hundreds of thousands of people left homeless, and widespread disruption to the power supply threatened to hamper (妨碍) Chilean industry’s recovery. In the hard-hit city of Concepcion, about 310 miles south of Santiago, the government imposed a night-time curfew (宵禁令) in Concepcion and the Maule region on Sunday in a bid to stop looting.
Police used tear gas and water blast guns to disperse a crowd of looters carrying off food and electrical appliances from one supermarket in Concepcion. Television images showed people stuffing groceries and other goods into shopping trolleys. “People have gone days without eating,” said Orlando Salazar, one of the looters at the supermarket. “The only option is to come here and get stuff for ourselves.” On the second day of the most serious natural disaster to hit Chile in decades, rescuing survivors from the ruins had been quickly replaced by the hard challenge of helping them. People overseas have been deeply impressed by earthquake relief efforts by the Chilean government.
1. There are several reasons why the loss of lives in the Chile earthquake was comparatively low EXCEPT __________.
A. improvements had been made in the constructed buildings.
B. Chile is always well prepared for the coming earthquake.
C. large number of Chile residents had gone oat for a holiday.
D Chile has rich experience in dealing with this disaster.
2. The underlined word “formidable” in the fifth paragraph probably means ________.
A. difficult          B. glorious                       C. light                     D. original
3. According to the passage, what is the most pressing task in the earthquake-hit areas?
A. rescuing survivors
B. providing temporary shelter and food for the victims
C. burying dead bodies
D. clearing away the ruins
4. The author’s main purpose in writing the passage is to ____________.
A. call on international aid agencies to go to Chile to help.
B. tell us how to deal with the coming disaster.
C. show how the people of Chile rebuild their country after the big disaster.
D. tell us something about the enormous earthquake in Chile.