【编者按】威廉希尔app 英语四六级频道为大家收集整理了“2012英语四级完形填空模拟题及答案解析”供大家参考，希望对大家有所帮助!
上半年四六级考试已经结束，同学们迎来了美好的暑假。这个暑假该怎么过，对下学期即将到来的12月四六级考试应该做怎样的准备工作呢?请关注外语教育网四六级网站。
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic Competition. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese:
1. 竞争使人们充满创造力，使人们更有效率。
2. 竞争促使生产出更好的产品和提供更优质的服务。
3. 竞争促进了社会的进一步发展。
Competition
Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)
Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.
For questions 1-7, mark
Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;
N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage;
NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage。
For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage。
Earthquake
Can Scientists Predict Killer Earthquakes?
The date was November 23, 1980. People near Naples, in southern Italy, felt the Earth roll and shake. Earthquake! Suddenly buildings came tumbling down. Cracks appeared in the earth. Within minutes, entire towns were destroyed. Thousands of people were dead. Thousands more were injured。
As rescuers searched through the rubble, many people must have wondered, of only the victims had known ahead of time, many lives could have been saved。
Actually, an Italian scientist did predict that such a quake would happen. In 1977 Dr. M. Caputo of the Universite Degiles Studi in Rome warned that a large quake would soon strike the east of Naples. Unfortunately, he couldn’t predict the exact time and date of the quake。
Dr. Caputo made his general prediction after talking with scientists at 54 earthquake monitoring stations throughout Italy. He learned that many earthquakes had recently rocked different areas around Naples. But none had occurred in one particular spot east of Naples for many years. Dr. Caputo felt that the area was long overdue for a large quake. And it was。
Earthquake Strikes in Gap
The quake occurred in a region that Dr. Caputo called a seismic gap. A seismic gap is an area in an active earthquake region where no earthquake or seismic activity has been recorded in a long time. Seismic gaps are located where two large plates in the Earth have become stuck。
When the plates slide past each other, they sometimes became locked in place. A similar thing happens when you make a running leap on a sidewalk while wearing sneakers. When you land on both feet, the sneakers grab onto rough surface. Friction tends to hold your feet back while the rest of your body goes forward. You may end up falling flat on your face。
In the case of plates, however, the uneven surfaces between the plates cause the plates to remain locked in place for years. Huge pressure builds up behind each plate. Periodically, a shudder, or tremor, is recorded as some of this energy is released。
Finally, after about 50 years, rock in the seismic gap either suddenly breaks or moves under the great stress. This sudden release of energy sends shock waves through the rock layers above. The ground shakes, sidewalks crack, and buildings tumble. A mighty quake has struck。
Gaps Used To Predict Quakes
Many geologists have used what is called the seismic gap technique to accurately predict earthquakes. The technique was first developed by Soviet earthquake expert Dr. V. Fodotov during his studies of ancient and recent Japanese earthquakes. Dr. Fodotov was marking the location, size, and date of all known quakes in Japan when he noticed a striking pattern。
All major earthquakes were found to occur in only a few isolated spots in Japan. Each of these spots, he noted, experienced a major quake only once every 50 to 60 years. Dr. Fodotov concluded that spots that hadnt had a quake in more than 50 years were “ripe” for a quake. The Russian scientist named these locations seismic gaps。
In the past several years, geologists from other countries have found seismic gaps in other parts of the world. After making detailed studies of past quakes in these regions, the geologists were able to make an accurate prediction of when a quake would occur。