Earthquakes are natural disasters that humans cannot control. Sometimes earthquakes
can be very dangerous and people need to know more about where earthquakes come from,
and how to protect themselves from them and any other natural disasters.
Earthquakes are the shaking, rolling or sudden shock of the earth’s surface. They are the
earth’s natural means of releasing pressure. More than a million earthquakes occur in the
world each year. Earthquakes can be felt over large areas although they usually last less than a minute. However, earthquakes cannot be predicted although scientists are still working on the problem.
There are about 20 plates along the surface of the earth that move continuously and slowly
past each other. When the plates squeeze or stretch, huge rocks form at their edges and the
rocks shift with great force, causing an earthquake. As the plates move, they put forces on
themselves and each other. When the force is large enough, the crust is forced to break.
Shaking and groundbreaking are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally
resulting in more or less severe damage to buildings and other structures. The severity of the effect depends on the complex combination of the earthquake magnitude. Groundbreak is a major risk for large engineering structures such as dams, bridges and nuclear power stations and requires careful mapping of existing faults to identify any likely to break the ground surface within the life of the structure.

1.Earthquakes are considered natural disasters because .................... .
a) they are man-made  b) man has no control over them
c) man can control them d) they are always expected
2.Earthquakes are considered disastrous for people and properties because ...............
a) earthquakes happen in cities b) man can control them
c) they are unpredictable  d) they result in little destruction
3.Which of the following is NOT TRUE about an earthquake?
a) An earthquake is a controllable disaster.
b) An earthquake is always unpredictable.
c) An earthquake causes severe damage.
d) The earth is cracked when an earthquake occurs.
4.The underlined pronoun “they” refers to .................... .
a) areas b) earthquakes c) scientists d) crusts
5.Which one of the following is much affected by groundbreaks?
a) Lakes.  b) Rivers.
c) Forests.  d) Engineering structures.
6.Find words from the passage that have the same meaning as “upper layer of the earth”.
a) rock b) plate c) surface d) crust
7.According to the passage, how do earthquakes help the earth?
a) They are the earth’s natural means of releasing pressure.
b) They force us to study the earth.
c) They help animals and forests.
d) They renew the earth’s environment.
8.According to the passage, how can we try to protect a structure from earthquakes?
a) By inventing devices to prevent earthquakes.
b) By building structures in deserts.
c) By careful mapping of existing faults in them to fix.
d) By releasing the force of crusts.