Question 16 is based on the recording you have just heard.

原文：

Recording One

W: The negative impacts of natural disasters can be seen everywhere. In just the past few weeks, the world has witnessed the destructive power of earthquakes in Indonesia, typhoons in the Philippines, and the destructive sea waves that struck Samoa and neighboring islands. A study by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters finds that, between 1980 and 2007, nearly 8,400 natural disasters killed more than two million people. These catastrophic events caused more than $1.5 trillion in economic losses. U.N. weather expert Geoffrey Love says that is the bad news.

M: "Over the last 50 years, economic losses have increased by a factor of 50. That sounds pretty terrible, but the loss of life has decreased by a factor of 10 simply because we are getting better at warning people. We are making a difference. Extreme events, however, will continue to occur. But, the message is that they need not be disasters. "

W: Love, who is director of Weather and Disaster Risk Reduction at the World Meteorological Organization, says most of the deaths and economic losses were caused by weather, climate, or water-related extremes. These include droughts, floods, windstorms, strong tropical winds and wildfires. (17)He says extreme events will continue. But, he says extreme events become disasters only when people fail to prepare for them.

M: "Many of the remedies are well-known. From a planning perspective, it is pretty simple. Build better buildings. Don't build where the hazards will destroy them. From an early-warning perspective, make sure the warnings go right down to the community level. Build community action plans."

W: (18)The World Meteorological Organization points to Cuba and Bangladesh as examples of countries that have successfully reduced the loss of life caused by natural disasters by taking preventive action. It says tropical storms formerly claimed dozens, if not hundreds of lives, each year, in Cuba. But, the development of an early-warning system has reversed that trend. In 2008, Cuba was hit by five successive hurricanes, but only seven people were killed. Bangladesh also has achieved substantial results. Major storm surges in 1970 and 1991 caused the deaths of about 440,000 people. Through careful preparation, the death toll from a super tropical storm in November 2007 was less than 3,500.

16.  What is the talk mainly about?

解析：D。四个选项均为概括性语言，且都与自然灾害有关，推测题目是主题相关。录音一开始介绍了自然灾害的负面影响，之后详细介绍如何采取预防措施减少自然灾害，故D选项“如何减少自然灾害的负面影响”为正确答案。A选项“自然灾害对于发展中国家的意味着什么”和B选项“世界气象组织如何研究自然灾害”不是录音主题，排除；D选项“人类在自然灾害面前显得多么无力”与主题相反，错误。