Passage 2 Fill in the blanks. It could be more than one word. Some parts of the earth are ( 1) _______ have earthquakes than other parts. This is usually true of mountainous areas because there the ( 2) _______ is not even. It is easy to understand why people are so frightened by earthquakes. People used to believe that when an earthquake took place, the ground opened, ( 3) _______ , and then it closed. It was also thought that those people would vanish forever. But now we know this is not what really happens. What we need to fear most is the (4) _______ , including fires, floods, and (5) _______ . A (6 ) _______ earthquake (7) _______ in Yellowstone National Park on August 17, 1959. The earthquake was massive and very strong. It also caused the worst (5 ) _______ in US history since 1927. After the earthquake, some people said that they would never visit Yellowstone, because they were afraid they would be caught in such a (8) _______ the earthquake. This is actually a foolish idea. Such a fear would keep us away from beautiful mountains for the rest of our lives. Even though earthquakes happen every day, such a powerful earthquake like the Yellowstone one does not happen (9 )_______ at all. We should feel grateful that very few of us will suffer such a bad natural (8) _______ . Besides, if we know in advance and make careful preparations, the ( 10) _______ could be avoided.