《2025年小题狂做高中英语必修第三册译林版》

Passage 2
[2025江苏锡山高级中学期中]Established earthquake warning systems provide at best just a minute or two of notice, leaving little time for preparedness. Decades of searching for a better warning sign—changes in the geochemistry of groundwater, electromagnetic effects in the upper atmosphere, and even changes in animal behaviour—have failed. Many question whether such a precursor(先兆) even exists. This situation may change soon, as recent research is providing a glimmer of hope for improved earthquake prediction.
Researchers Quentin Bletery and Jean-Mathieu Nocquet from Cote d’Azur University in France collected data from over 90 earthquakes with magnitudes larger than 7 that had occurred in the past two decades. They focused on GPS station records near these quakes, which accurately captured land movement every 5 minutes with millimetre precision. They analysed more than 3,000 time series of motion in the 48 hours leading up to the main ruptures(断裂).
They noticed that, in the first 46 hours, the records showed no significant features. However, during the 2 hours before the earthquake, they noticed signs of increasing movement along the fault zones(断层带). Essentially, there’s a slip between plates causing the land above them to move in a measurable, horizontal direction.
Could this be just a coincidence? The probability of this increase happening just before the quake and being unrelated is extremely low, and the researchers confirmed this by analysing 100,000 random time windows in non-earthquake GPS data. The pattern occurred only 0.03% of the time in non-earthquake data.
While this precursor signal won’t be used for warnings anytime soon, officials from the United States Geological Survey( USGS) admit that this new study provides valuable insights into how to improve their warning systems—GPS data can grease the wheels of early earthquake warnings.
The researchers admit they’re still a number of steps away from putting this precursor signal into use, particularly since detecting subtle signals at individual faults requires more GPS stations. But the biggest problem is that many of the world’s earthquake regions have no instrumentation. “We can’t realize the detection at the scale of one earthquake, so we cannot make predictions,” Bletery said.
(B) 1. What remains a tough problem for scientists?
A. Determining the magnitude of an earthquake.
B. Finding a way to detect earthquakes in early stages.
C. Measuring atmospheric changes during earthquakes.
D. Identifying animals’ possible responses to earthquakes.
(C) 2. What did the researchers find through their data analysis?
A. The chance of main ruptures occurring in fault zones.
B. The accuracy of GPS in recording land movement.
C. The existence of a two-hour precursory phase.
D. The horizontal slip within the first 46 hours.
(D) 3. What does the underlined part “grease the wheels of” in Paragraph 5 mean?
A. Distinguish.
B. Contradict.
C. Overmatch.
D. Facilitate.
(A) 4. What holds back the practical application of the new findings?
A. The inaccessibility of precursor signals.
B. The complexity of updating GPS equipment.
C. The challenge of identifying earthquake regions.
D. The inconsistent slip patterns of different earthquakes.
读后拓展
一、语篇结构梳理

Background (Para. 1) — • Current earthquake warning systems can give (1)at best 1 or 2 minutes of advance warning.
• Decades of searching for a better warning sign have failed.
Research Process (Para. 2) — • Researchers have studied over 90 earthquakes ((2)magnitude ＞7) in the past 20 years.
• They analysed GPS station records in the 48 hours (3)leading up to/before the main ruptures.
Key Findings (Paras. 3-4) — • In the first 46 hours, no significant features occur.
• Movement along fault zones (4)rises/increases 2 hours before the earthquake.
Advantage (Para. 5) — Providing valuable (5)insights into how to improve the warning systems
Challenges (Para. 6) — • The precursor signal is far from being put into use.
• Detecting signals needs more GPS stations, but many regions lack (6)instrumentation.
二、语言知识深挖
1. 词义匹配
(1) magnitude a. the act or process of moving or the way sth moves
(2) precision b. the quality of being exact, accurate and careful
(3) motion c. the size of an earthquake
(4) probability d. how likely sth is to happen
2. 选词填空(使用正确形式)
at best lead up to at the scale of provide valuable insights into
(1) We can’t handle such difficult tasksat the scale of a small local technology company.
(2) The old machine worksat best for an hour before overheating suddenly each time.
(3) I was very anxious in the timeleading up to the event.
(4) This new research on sleep patternsprovides valuable insights into how lack of rest affects mental health.
3. 长难句分析
While this precursor signal won’t be used for warnings anytime soon, officials from the United States Geological Survey( USGS) admit that this new study provides valuable insights into how to improve their warning systems—GPS data can grease the wheels of early earthquake warnings.
让步状语从句
主句主语
主句谓语
宾语从句
主句定语
宾语从句
独立的句子,作同位语
尽管这种先兆信号不会很快被用于预警,但美国地质勘探局(USGS)的官员承认,这项新研究为改进他们的预警系统提供了宝贵的见解——GPS数据能够促进早期地震预警的顺畅进行。
分析:... officials ... admit that ...是本句主干。while 引导的是让步状语从句;that 引导的是宾语从句。from the United States Geological Survey( USGS)是介词短语作后置定语修饰 officials。how to improve their warning systems 是“疑问词+不定式”结构,作 into 的宾语。破折号后面是一个独立的简单句,具体解释了 valuable insights 是什么。
及时巩固
选择:D I am willing to help, I do not have much time available.
A. As
B. Because
C. When
D. While
翻译:园丁(gardener)说这个工具让人知道了怎样能把树种得更好。(宾语从句)

答案： 【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了在地震预测方面的一项最新研究。
1.B 细节理解题
【关键句】Decades of searching for a better warning sign—changes in the geochemistry of groundwater, electromagnetic effects in the upper atmosphere, and even changes in animal behaviour—have failed. Many question whether such a precursor even exists.
释义:数十年来,人们一直在寻找更好的预警信号——包括地下水的地质化学变化、高层大气的电磁效应,甚至动物行为的变化——但都以失败告终。许多人质疑这种预警先兆是否真的存在。
【解析】根据关键句可知,对于科学家来说,找到一种在早期阶段检测地震的方法是个棘手的问题。故选B项。
2.C 细节理解题
【关键句】They noticed that, in the first 46 hours, the records showed no significant features. However, during the 2 hours before the earthquake, they noticed signs of increasing movement along the fault zones.
释义:他们发现,在地震发生前的46小时内,记录中没有显示任何明显的特征。然而,在地震发生前的2小时里,他们注意到断层带的活动迹象在不断加剧。
【解析】根据关键句可知,通过数据分析,研究人员发现了地震发生前两小时的先兆阶段的存在。故选C项。
3.D 词义猜测题
【关键句】While this precursor signal won’t be used for warnings anytime soon, officials from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) admit that this new study provides valuable insights into how to improve their warning systems—GPS data can grease the wheels of early earthquake warnings.
释义:尽管这种先兆信号不会很快被用于预警,但美国地质勘探局(USGS)的官员承认,这项新研究为改进他们的预警系统提供了宝贵的见解——GPS数据能够促进早期地震预警的顺畅进行。
【解析】根据关键句可知,这项新研究为改进预警系统提供了有价值的见解,可见GPS数据应该是对早期地震预警起到促进作用。由此可推知,画线部分在这里表示“促进”,与facilitate(促进,使便利)的意思接近。故选D项。
4.A 推理判断题
【关键句】The researchers admit they’re still a number of steps away from putting this precursor signal into use, particularly since detecting subtle signals at individual faults requires more GPS stations. But the biggest problem is that many of the world’s earthquake regions have no instrumentation.
释义:研究人员承认,要将这种先兆信号投入使用还有很长的路要走,尤其是在单个断层处探测细微的信号需要更多的GPS站点。但最大的问题是,世界上许多地震频发地区没有相关仪器。
【解析】根据关键句可知,检测细微信号需要更多的GPS站点,而最大的问题是世界上许多地震频发地区没有相关仪器,这意味着先兆信号难以获取,因而阻碍了新发现的实际应用。故选A项。
【重点词积累】
(熟词生义)capture v. 记录
essentially adv. 本质上,根本上,基本上
unrelated adj. 不相关的
subtle adj. 不易察觉的,不明显的
读后拓展
一、语篇结构梳理
(1)at best
(2)magnitude
(3)leading up to/before
(4)rises/increases
(5)insights
(6)instrumentation
二、语言知识深挖
1.词义匹配
(1)c
(2)b
(3)a
(4)d
2.选词填空
(1)at the scale of
(2)at best
(3)leading up to
(4)provides valuable insights into
3.长难句分析
及时巩固
D;The gardener says (that) this tool enables people to know how to plant trees better.