多读、多听、多练习才是王道，以下是小编为大家准备的托福阅读练习，希望大家好好练习。

　　introduction

　　海啸是一种具有强大破坏力的海浪。当地震发生于海底，因震波的动力而引起海水剧烈的起伏，形成强大的波浪，向前推进，将沿海地带一一淹没的灾害，称之为海啸。

　　vocabulary

　　tsunami n.海啸

　　high-rises n.高楼（注意前面用的是tall buildings）

　　temblor n.地震

　　holocaust n.大屠杀

　　universal time n.（=greenwich time）世界时间，格林尼治（平均）时

　　extensive 这里注意原文中“the most extensive tsunami warning system  around”我们在写作的时候也可以这样用最大的什么机构组织。

　　tremor n.震动， 颤动

　　bulletin n.公告

　　evacuate v.疏散， 撤出， 排泄

　　fiasco n. 大惨败

　　dialects n.方言

　　比较长，建议只泛读

　　articlewednesday's massive earthquake near indonesia was distressingly  similar to the one that killed over 220,000 people in december of 2004. both  happened off the coast of sumatra and put at least a dozen other countries at  risk of tsunami. yesterday's magnitude-8.4 quake was smaller than the 9.1 of  2004, but only slightly. tall buildings swayed in jakarta, and some high-rises  were evacuated in singapore. and less than 24 hours later, the quake was  followed by a second and third temblor in the same area, which brought buildings  down in the coastal indonesian city of padang and triggered more tsunami  warnings around the region.

　　so far, the damage appears to be much less serious than the 2004 disaster —  thankfully. it's too early to guess at a body count, but most of the destruction  will probably come from the quakes themselves, not from a tsunami.

　　three years after one of the worst disasters in history, though, the quakes  pose worrisome questions: are we any more prepared? has any progress been made  in building better tsunami warning systems? or can we expect another holocaust  any day now?

　　one thing, at least, has changed dramatically. the first earthquake  happened at 11:10 universal time. although it occurred in the indian ocean, it  was detected by the pacific tsunami warning center, headquartered in hawaii,  which has the most extensive tsunami warning system around — largely because the  pacific ocean is where 70% of the world's earthquakes normally happen.

　　the 2004 quake was quickly detected by the pacific center, too, so that's  no big deal unto itself. this time, though, the pacific tsunami warning center  （and a japanese warning system that also noticed the earthquake） knew what to do  with the information. fourteen minutes after the tremor, the pacific center sent  a bulletin around the world, warning all at-risk nations that there might be a  tsunami and estimating when it might strike, to the minute. those channels of  communication simply didn't exist in 2004. basic as it may seem, this  across-the-water communication represents a huge breakthrough.

　　but a warning only helps if someone passes it along. and here's where  things get dicey all over again. “presumably all of the countries should have  gotten that bulletin in minutes,” says lori dengler, a geology professor and  tsunami expert at humboldt state university in california. “then it becomes an  internal decision to decide whether to call a tsunami warning in their country.  because we're dealing with sovereign nations, that makes it complex.”

　　each nation on the indian ocean has its own procedure — or lack thereof —  for what to do next. they decide whether to issue a public warning, whether to  call for an evacuation and how to do it in a way that people understand. in some  places, like southern bangladesh, a warning to evacuate was disseminated by  police over loudspeakers four hours before the tsunami might have arrived, and  many people rushed to high ground.

　　but in indonesia, the last test run didn't go so well. in july 2006, a  major earthquake caused a tsunami, headed for java. the indonesian government  received the alert, but the island of java still had no real warning system.  more than 600 people died.

　　indonesia's ability to communicate with the public has improved since the  java fiasco, says laura kong, director of the international tsunami information  centre. and to be fair, it's a difficult problem. disseminating an effective  warning fast is complicated. there is currently much debate in  emergency-management circles over the relative merits of sirens, text messages  and other high-tech gadgetry. the state of california has not yet figured out  the best way to get a tsunami alert to its coastal residents; indonesia, in  comparison, must spread the word to 235 million people who speak hundreds of  dialects.

　　but there are simpler ways to avoid tsunami fatalities. before most waves  strike, the ground shakes or the sea recedes dramatically. in some areas,  everyone knows that these signs mean you must head for high ground; in most  places, though, people are unaware of the warning signs. in thailand, which lost  5,400 people in the indian ocean tsunami three years ago — half of them tourists  — many hotels still do not educate guests about these simple clues. “putting up  a danger sign is bad for business,” says kong. “the businesses, and hotels in  particular, are wary.” it's a shocking lapse, but not an uncommon one: kong has  run into the same attitude in hawaii hotels and has learned to temper her  expectations. she hopes that at the least, front-desk staff and other key hotel  employees can be trained on recognizing the signs of a tsunami to assist guests  in an emergency. “we just have to be practical and reasonable.”

　　overall, however, kong believes that we're much better off than we were a  couple of years ago. if the 2004 tsunami happened again today in exactly the  same way, the death toll would be lower, she says. that's good, since we can  expect more of them. a major incident like the 2004 quake puts geological stress  on the entire region — not the most stable in the world to begin with — which  helps explain why we have seen more magnitude-8 or larger quakes there than  normal. especially in indonesia, nestled right in the middle of a nest of  earthquake faults, it can only be a matter of time.

　　homework

　　1. what is the main idear of this article?

　　2.please translate the sentence into chinese.

　　it's a shocking lapse, but not an uncommon one: kong has run into the same  attitude in hawaii hotels and has learned to temper her expectations.

　　3.what is “one thing,at least, has changed dramtically”?

　　4.what is the simpler way to avoid tsunami fatalities?

　　参考答案：

　　1.although we have to face many difficulties , the ability of decreasing  lose of tsunami is progressing.

　　2.这是一个惊人的失误，但是并不是什么罕见的：对于夏威夷的旅店，kong有同样的看法同时也学会降低了自己的期待。

　　3.although it occurred in the indian ocean, it was detected by the pacific  tsunami warning center.

　　4.be aware of warning sign:most waves strike, the ground shakes or the sea  recedes dramatically.

　　上面就是托福阅读挑战练习，希望通过上面的阅读和练习，大家都能够有所进步，每天一点点，积少成多，方可成就最后的成功，加油！