Page 29 - 67 READING COMPREHENSION LESSONS - ENGLISH 9

59. Choose the word that is best fits each of the blank space:

collapsed – earthquake – hardly – disaster – city – inhabitants – above – completely – under

China said today that there were heavy loss of life in the (1) __________ which struck Tangshan
city yesterday. Survivors said that Tangshan, an industrial (2) __________ of one million people 160 kms
East of Peking, was (3) __________ destroyed.
Observers living in Beijing said it appeared that only a small part of the one million
(4)__________ escaped death or injury. Many of the men of Tangshan were working in the mines deep
(5) __________ the earth’s surface when the (6) __________ occurred. Unfortunately, few of these
miners have survived. A lot of people were also working in the city’s offices. Regrettably, most were
killed under falling concrete when the building (7) __________.
The Chinese authorities have not yet given any information about the actual number of casualties,
but it is thought that tens of thousands of people have been killed. (8) __________ a house has been left
standing.

60. read the passage below and choose one correct answer for each question.

A UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) is any object flying in the sky which cannot be identified by
the person who sees it. Sometimes the object is investigated. If people can still not figure out what the
object is after an investigation, it is called a UFO. If they figure out what the object is, it can no longer be
called a UFO because it has been identified.
Even though UFOs can be anything, people often use the word UFO when they are talking about
alien spacecraft. Flying saucer is another word that is often used to describe an unidentified flying object.
Studies estimate that 50%-90% of all reported UFO sightings are identified later. Usually 10%-
20% are never identified. Studies also show that very few UFO sightings are hoaxes (people trying to trick
other people). Most UFOs are actually natural or man-made objects that looked strange. 80%-90% UFOs
are identified as one of three different things:
astronomical causes (for example: planets, stars, or meteors); aircraft; balloons
10%-20% of UFOs are other causes (such as birds, clouds, mirages, searchlights, etc.)

1. What does the word “figure out” in paragraph 1 mean?
A. observe B. explain C. calculate D. require
2. Another word used to describe a UFO is _________.
A. spacecraft B. astronaut C. flying saucer D. cooking oil
3. How many percents of all reported UFO sightings are not identified?
A. 10%-20% B. 20%-30% C. 30%-50% D. 80%-90%
4. Most of UFOs are identified as one of the following things except _________.
A. stars B. balloons C. clouds D. rains
5. Which of the following sentences is NOT true?
A. UFO means Unidentified Flying Object.
B. UFO is often used to talk about alien spaceships.
C. Many UFO sightings are hoaxes.
D. Over half of all reported UFO sightings are identified.