NOT UNTIL THE END OF PREHISTORIC TIMES THAT DID THE FIRST WHEELE...

10. Not until the end of prehistoric times that did the first wheeled vehicles appear.

A B C D

SECTION B: READING (40 POINTS)

I. Read the text below and fill in each blank with ONE suitable word. (10 pts)

TSUNAMI IN JAPAN

Japan's most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east

coast,triggering a massive tsunami. Cars, ships and buildings were (1)________ away by a

wall ofwater after the 8.9 - magnitude tremor, which struck about 400 kms (250 miles)

north-east ofTokyo. A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant,

(2)________pressure has exceeded normal levels. Officials say more than 10,000 people

are dead and about 5,000 (3)________, but it is feared the final death toll will be

(4)________ higher. Inone ward alone in Sendai, a port city in Miyagi prefecture, 200 to

300 bodies were found.“The quake has been the fifth-largest in the world (5)________

1900 and nearly 8,000(6)________ stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch,

New Zealand, last month”, said scientists. Thousands of people (7)________ near the

Fukushima nuclear power plant have been ordered to evacuate. Japanese nuclear officials

said that pressureinside a boiling water reactor at the plant was running much higher than

normal after the cooling system failed. Officials said they might need to deliberately

(8)________ some radioactive steam to relieve pressure, but that there would be no health

risk. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had earlier said the US Air Force had flown

emergency coolant to the site. But US officials later said (9)________ coolant had been

handed over because the Japanese had decided to handle the situation (10)________.The

UN's nuclear agency said four nuclear power plants had been shut down safely.