完形填空（共20小题；每小题1．5分,满分30分）
阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A，B，C，D）中选出最佳选项。
Earthquakes are ____， and thousands of them happen each day．But most are too weak to feel．During a ____ earthquake, there is often a great noise first．Then the earth ____ terribly and many houses ____ down．Railway tracks break and trains go ____ lines; a great many factories are ____； thousands of deaths are caused, and many more lose homes ．．．____ the great damage and deaths caused by the earthquake ____， other disasters such as fires often ____．More buildings are destroyed and more ____ are caused．
It is well known of the ____ of a possible earthquake, and for centuries man has been making researches on earthquakes．More than 2,000 years ago, ____， a Chinese scientist named Zhang Heng ____ a machine which could find out from which ____ the seismic waves had come, and this machine is still ____ by scientists today．Now we know much more about earthquakes and ____ they happen, but we still cannot ____ exactly when and where an earthquake will happen, and cannot ____ it from happening．So earthquakes are among the ____ disasters in the world．
No one can stop natural earthquakes．____， scientists can help stop earthquakes destroying the whole cities and causing too many deaths．

A．common B．familiar C．strange D．unusual

A．real B．small C．big D．weak

A．moves B．breaks C．jumps D．shakes

A．get B．fall C．set D．put

A．off B．behind C．into D．on

A．burst B．buried C．destroyed D．struck

A．Except B．Because of C．Instead of D．Besides

A．lonely B．itself C．themselves D．later

A．follow B．enter C．come D．copy

A．quakes B．results C．difficulties D．deaths

A．information B．problems C．dangers D．questions

A．as a result B．as well C．for example D．in fact

A．invented B．bought C．found D．discovered

A．country B．city C．way D．direction

A．improved B．used C．protected D．repaired

A．where B．why C．what D．when

A．speak B．point C．talk D．tell

A．make B．let C．stop D．prepare

A．worst B．fast C．most D．best

A．However B．So C．And D．But