問題詳情
(Reading)The village of Vestmannaeyjar, in the far northerncountry of Iceland, is as bright and clean and up-to-date asany American or Canadian suburb. It is located on the islandof Heimaey, just off the mainland. One January night in 1973,however, householders were shocked from their sleep. Insome backyards, red-hot liquid was spurting from the ground.Flaming "skyrockets" shot up and over the houses. Theisland's volcano, Helgafell, silent for 7,000 years, wasviolently erupting!Luckily, the island's fishing fleet was in port, and within 24 hours almost everyone was ferried to the mainland. Butthen the agony of the island began in earnest. As in anightmare, fountains of burning lava spurted 300 feet high.Black, baseball-size cinders rained down. An evil-smelling,eye-burning, throat-searing cloud of smoke and gas eruptedinto the air, and a river of lava flowed down the mountain.The constant shriek of escaping steam was punctuated byear-splitting explosions.As time went on, the once pleasant village of Vestmannaeyjar took on a weird aspect. Its street lamps stillburning against the long Arctic night, the town lay under a thick blanket of cinders. All that could be seen above the 10-foot black drifts were the tips of street signs. Some houses had collapsed under the weight of cinders, while others had burst into flames as the heat ignited their oil storage tanks. Lighting the whole lurid scene, fire continued to shoot fromthe mouth of the looming volcano.The eruption continued for six months. Scientists and reporters arrived from around the world to observe theawesome natural event. But the town did not die that easily.In July, when the eruption ceased, the people of Heimaey Island returned to assess the chances of rebuilding theirhomes and lives. They found tons of ash covering the ground.The Icelanders are a tough people, however, accustomed tothe strange and violent nature of their Arctic land. They dugout their homes. They even used the cinders to build newroads and airport runways. Now the new homes of Heimaeyare warmed from water pipes heated by molten lava.
【題組】46. What is the main purpose of the reading?
(A) To define the meaning of volcano eruption.
(B) To give reasons for a natural disaster.
(C) To describe how a tragic event developed.
(D) To discuss possibilities for avoiding volcanoeruption.
參考答案
答案：C
難度：簡單0.80814
統計：A(12),B(10),C(139),D(8),E(0)