本文最近出现在20190127大陆地区考试中，随后在接下来几天的北美考试中，也有出现。

Most seismologists assume that following a major earthquake and its aftershocks, the fault (a break in Earth’s crust where pressure can trigger an earthquake) will remain quiet until stresses have time to rebuild, typically over hundreds or thousands of years. Recent evidence of subtle interactions between earthquakes may overturn this assumption, however. According to the stress-triggering hypothesis, faults are unexpectedly responsive to subtle stresses they acquire as neighboring faults shift. Rather than simply dissipating, stress relieved during an earthquake travels along the fault, concentrating in sites nearby; even the smallest additional stresses may then trigger another quake along the fault or on a nearby fault. Although scientists have long viewed such subtle interactions as nonexistent, the hypothesis has explained the location and frequency of earthquakes following several destructive quakes in California, Japan, and Turkey.

1、According to the passage, which of the following is an assumption that may be invalidated by recent seismological evidence?

A. Earthquakes are caused by stresses building up in faults within Earth’s crust.

B. Most major earthquakes can be predicted with reasonable accuracy.

C. Faults are highly responsive to even minor stresses in neighboring faults.

D. Most major earthquakes are followed by predictable aftershocks.

E. A fault that has resulted in a major earthquake becomes quiet for a long period.
 

2、For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply. 

The passage suggests that most seismologists believe which of the following about fault stresses?

A. They are dissipated when they result in an earthquake.

B. They are transferred between neighboring faults.

C. They will not cause a major earthquake along the same fault in the space of a few years.
 

题：事实信息题

解析：
根据题干可以定位到第2句；其中，invalidated=overturn。

但本题需要我们找的是assumption,所以根据this指示代词，需要看到第1句。

E选项同义替换可选。

A选项错，building up in faults within Earth’s crust，无中生有。

B+C+D选项错，无中生有。

第二题：可多选题+推断题

解析：
本题问seismologists的观点，可以定位到句，从而选出C选项。

本题的难点在于A、B选项的判定，注意到本题是多选题，所以，可能存在跨区的现象。

由文章结构可知，只有句是seismologists的观点，而后面都是在反驳这个观点，由此可知前后存在着取反的关系。

A选项对应第四句开头，Rather than simply dissipating，… 这是新的观点，说明原来的观点认为simply dissipating，A选项正确。

B选项对应第四句stress relieved during an earthquake travels along the fault…，这是新的观点，不是地震学家的观点，从而B选项错误。