China Earthquake Leaves 5,000 Homeless
Beijing- An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale left 50,000 people homeless, killed at least one person and injured 39 others in southwest China on Thurday, with more accidents expected.
By late Thurday, 4,900 people were declared homeless after the quake destroyed their homes in a mountainous area lying on the border between Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. The dawn quake left one dead and 39 injured, destroyed 268 houses and damaging 1,132 other buildings so seriously that they were considered uninhabitable.
Another 2,400 houses suffered less serious damage. The epicenter( 震中 ) was near scenic Lugu Lake, a tourist site, where the local school was severely damaged. Preliminary (最初的) estimates put economic losses at 180 million yuan ( 22 million dollars ).
Governments in Yanyuan and the neighbouring Yunnan county of Ninglang has joined forces in the rescue effects and tents, clothes and medicine are badly in need of for the earthquake victims.
The mountainous terrain, heavy rain and several aftershocks all prevented rescue effects on Thursday. The rain could cause more badly damaged homes to fall down.
More dead and injured are expected “as rescuers have yet to reach many faraway areas”.It is very hard for rescue workers because most houses are scattered around the mountains, which are inhabited by Yi and other ethnic minority groups (少数民族)
The quake hit the area at 5:10 a.m. Beijing time (2,110 Wednesday GMT ). Earthquake regularly affect the two counties, with two quakes measuring 5.0 and 6.2 on the Richter scale killing at least three people and injuring more than 1,500 in Ninglang in November 1998.
The area is about 100 kilometers from the historic Yunnan town of Lijiang, which was struck in 1996 by an earthquake that killed more than 250 people anf injured 14,000.
( Reports from China Daily, May 25, 2001 )
6. The earthquake took place _______ .
A. in the early morning B. at noon
C.in the afternoon D. at night
7. All of the following things belong to the things that are most needed after the earthquake except _______ .
A. clothes B. food C. medicine D. tents
8. The author’s purpose in writing the passage is to _______ .
A.tell us the earthquake taking place in Yunnan has caused 5,000 homeless
B. warn the people in mountainous areas in Yunnan to take care of earthquake
C.call on more help from the people all over the country
D. analyze why the earthquake took place in this area
9. After reading the passage we know __________ .
A. the biggest earthquake happened in China in Ninglang in 1998
B. there will be no more than 2 persons dead in the earthquake
C. the earthquake took place in the places where minorities live
D. the total losses will add up to no more than 180 million yuan
10. “The two counties” here refers to ________ .
A. Yunnan and Sichuan B. Yanyuan and Ninglang
C. Yanyuan and Yunnan D. Yunnan and Ninglang
