AftertheviolentearthquakethatshookLosAngelesin1994earthquakescientistshadgoodnewstoreport:Thedamageanddeathtoll（死亡人数）couldhavebeenmuchworse.

Morethan60peoplediedinthisearthquake.Bycomparisonanearthquakeofsimilarintensity（强度）thatshookAmericain1988claimed25000victims.

InjuriesanddeathswererelativelylessinLosAngelesbecausethequakeoccurredat4:31a.m.onaholidaywhentrafficwaslightonthecity’shighways.InadditionchangesmadetotheconstructioncodesinLosAngelesduringthelast20yearshavestrengthenedthecity’sbuildingsandhighwaysmakingthemmoreresistanttoquakes（抗震）.

Despitethegoodnewscivilengineersaren’trestingontheirsuccesses.Pinnedtotheirdrawingboardsareblueprints（蓝图）forimprovedquake-resistantbuildings.Thenewdesignsshouldofferevengreatersecuritytocitieswhereearthquakesoftentakeplace.

Inthepastmakingstructuresquake-resistantmeantfirmyetflexiblematerialssuchassteelandwoodwhichbendwithoutbreaking.Laterpeopletriedtoliftabuildingoffitsfoundationandinsertrubberandsteelbetweenthebuildinganditsfoundationtoreducetheimpactofgroundvibrations.Themostrecentdesignsgivebuildingsbrainsaswellasconcreteandsteelsupports.Calledsmartbuildingsthestructuresrespondlikelivingorganismstoanearthquake’svibrations.Whenthegroundshakesandthebuildingtipsforwardthecomputerwouldforcethebuildingtoshiftintheoppositedirection.

Themewsmartstructurescouldbeveryexpensivetobuild.Howevertheywouldsavemanylivesandwouldbelesslikelytobedamagedduringearthquakes.

1.OnereasonwhythelossoflivesintheLogAngelesearthquakewascomparativelylowisthat_______.

A.newcomputershadbeeninstalledinthebuildings

B.itoccurredintheresidentialareasratherthanonthehighways

C.largenumbersofLosAngelesresidentshadgoneforaholiday

D.improvementshadbeenmadeintheconstructionofbuildingsandhighways

2.Thefunctionofthecomputermentionedinthepassageisto_______.

A.counterbalance（起平衡作用）anearthquake’sactiononthebuilding

B.predict（预测）thecomingofanearth