38．Dear Li Jun，
Last night I saw a TV documentary（纪实电视节目）about the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in China．I noticed one thing that is common with most natural disasters．The killer disasters come either early in the morning or late at night，when people are either resting or preparing to rest and，unfortunately，when people are least attentive to warning signs．
The Tangshan disaster struck early in the morning when the people were still sleeping．Many people died in their sleep．Miners were trapped deep below the earth．Some died．Survivors waited in the dark．They hoped that rescuers would come and pull them out．It is a horrible thing to be in a situation where you can do nothing to save yourself．
It seems that，Mother Nature has always attacked us as if she were afraid that we would fight back．Otherwise why would she come only as a thief？I have a story to tell you．This one happened in August 1986 in the villages near Lake Nyos in Cameroon's northwest province．Large amounts of carbon dioxide（CO
2） gas had been collecting at the bottom of the lake．It was clear that nobody knew about the gas or about how dangerous it was．Suddenly，before dawn on August 26，1986，a large quantity of gas was released（gave off）from the lake．CO
2 is heavier than air，so it spread out over the nearby villages．The blanket of CO
2 floated for 25 kilometres．Many people died in their sleep from lack of oxygen（O
2）．Before sunrise，more than 1，700 people had lost their lives．And thousands of animals were also killed by the gas．At first scientists believed that the gas was caused by an earthquake or a volcano．However，further studies proved that there had been no volcanic activity．Nobody is very certain how such a large amount of gas was released from the lake．Scientists from the USA，the EU，Japan and Cameroon have been studying the lake for the past twenty years．Yet they still have not found an answer．
Well，Jun，
let me leave Mother Nature and her timid（胆小的）way of attacking us．I need to run out for some noodles at a nearby Chinese restaurant．
Take good care of yourself．
Theresa
（1）What were most people doing when the Tangshan earthquake happened？
A．They were watching TV．
B．They were preparing to rest．
C．They were mining below the earth．
D．They were sleeping．
（2）What caused so many people to die near Lake Nyos？
A．A large quantity of poisonous gas．
B．A lack of oxygen．
C．A thick cloud in the sky．
D．A thief．
（3）Which of the following sentences is NOT true according to the passage？
A．People seem to be more attentive to signs of disasters in the daytime．
B．The author is familiar with China．
C．Mother Nature was afraid that people would fight back．
D．Animals were also killed by the gas near Lake Nyos．
（4）What does the underlined sentence mean at the end of the letter？
A．The writer decided to leave nature and hide away．
B．The writer decided not to fight with nature because she was timid．
C．The writer decided to stop writing about the topic．
D．The writer decided to attack nature bravely．
（5）What figure of speech is used in the name of"Mother Nature"？
A．Simile．（明喻）
B．Metaphor．（暗喻）
C．Personification．（拟人）
D．Comparison．（比较）
