Historically, humans get serious about avoiding disasters only after one has just struck them. ____1____ that logic, 2006 should have been a breakthrough year for rational behavior. With the memory of 9/11 still ____2____ in their minds, Americans watched hurricane Katrina, the most expensive disaster in U.S. history, on live TV. Anyone who didn’t know it before should have learned that bad things can happen. And they are made ____3____ worse by our willful blindness to risk as much as our ____4____ to work together before everything goes to hell.

　　Granted, some amount of delusion (錯覺) is probably part of the human condition. In A.D. 63, Pompeii was seriously damaged by an earthquake, and the locals immediately went to work ____5____ .in the same spot—until they were buried altogether by a volcano eruption 16 years later. But a review of the past year in disaster history suggests that modern Americans are particularly bad at ____6____ themselves from guaranteed threats. We know more than we ____7____ did about the dangers we face. But it turns ____8____ that in times of crisis, our greatest enemy is ____9____ the storm, the quake or the ____10____ itself. More often, it is ourselves.

　　So what has happened in the year that ____11____ the disaster on the Gulf Coast? In New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineers has worked day and night to rebuild the flood walls. They have got the walls to ____12____ they were before Katrina, more or less. That’s not ____13____ we can now say with confidence. But it may be all ____14____ can be expected from one year of hustle (忙碌).

　　Meanwhile, New Orleans officials have crafted a plan to use buses and trains to evacuate the sick and the disabled. The city estimates that 15,000 people will need a ____15____ out. However, state officials have not yet determined where these people will be taken. The negotiations with neighboring communities are ongoing and difficult.

　　1、A.To　　B.By　　C.On　　D.For

　　2、A.fresh　　B.obvious　　C.apparent　　D.evident

　　3、A.little　　B.less　　C.more　　D.much

　　4、A.reluctance　　B.rejection　　C.denial　　D.decline

　　5、A.revising　　B.refining　　C.rebuilding　　D.retrieving

　　6、A.preparing　　B.protesting　　C.protecting　　D.prevailing

　　7、A.never　　B.ever　　C.then　　D.before

　　8、A.up　　B.down　　C.over　　D.out

　　9、A.merely　　B.rarely　　C.incidentally　　D.accidentally

　　10、A.surge　　B.spur　　C.surf　　D.splash

　　11、A.ensued　　B.traced　　C.followed　　D.occurred

　　12、A.which　　B.where　　C.what　　D.when

　　13、A.enough　　B.certain　　C.conclusive　　D.final

　　14、A.but　　B.as　　C.that　　D.those

　　15、A.ride　　B.trail　　C.path　　D.track

　參考答案：

　　1、B　2、A　3、D　4、A　5、C　6、C　7、B　8、D

　　9、B　10、A　11、C　12、B　13、A　14、C　15、A