Unit 4B

Look at the title and the placement of the sub-header. How is the passage organized?

• The first four paragraphs explain why scientists want to be able to accurately predict earthquakes.

• The entire passage discusses how earthquakes form when the Earth's plate boundaries collide.

• The first four paragraphs deal with earthquake prediction in general, and the last four paragraphs give an example of the research done.

• The entire passage explains why scientists in the California desert near the San Andreas Fault think we cannot detect warning signs for an earthquake.

The following sentence would be best placed at the end of which paragraph?

For example, in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, there was a terrible fire.

• A

• B

• C

• D

In paragraph C, what does "Unfortunately, this is more a forecast than a prediction" mean?

• A forecast is a general statement that earthquakes will happen, but a prediction gives details about time and place

• Earthquakes follow a pattern, so scientists can forecast that it is inevitable that they will happen.

• A weather prediction tells what the temperature and rainfall will be at particular times.

• In California, small earthquakes happen daily, so scientists can forecast that this will continue in the future.

In the Parkfield, California study, what happened FIRST?

• Scientists learned that the cracks in the fault had widened just before an earthquake.

• Scientists set up equipment to collect information from deep in the earth.

• The scientists dug until they reached as far as three kilometers (two miles) deep.

• After years of waiting, an earthquake happened on September 28, 2004 with no warning signs.

How would Naoyuki Kato, a scientist at the Earthquake Research Institute, feel about what was learned at Parkfield?

• He would say that the situation in Japan is very different to the one in California.

• He thinks it is unlikely that we will ever be able to predict major earthquakes, just small ones.

• He believes that Japan will soon have another big earthquake in the Tokai area.

• The research done in California supports his idea that the Earth's crust slips before an earthquake.

The word they in paragraph A, line 5 refers to ______.

• Earth’s plates

• tsunamis and fires

• major quakes

• cities at risk

The author implies that, in Tokai, ______.

• stress is no longer building up there

• there was a recent earthquake

• a large quake is overdue

• it will be 100–150 years till the next quake

The word generated in paragraph C, line 5 is closest in meaning to ______

• suppressed

• absorbed

• decreased

• created

The author indicates that the 1980s–2004 Parkfield research ______.

• was more successful than later research

• showed that prediction was probably impossible

• proved that the “preslip” theory was accurate

• was done at a greater depth than later research

The passage does NOT say that P-waves ______.

• squeeze and strike rock

• may combine with S-waves

• cause more damage than S-waves

• are faster than S-waves