4. Can man do much in the face of natural disasters?
尽管人类在自然灾害面前总是显得非常渺小，但随着科学技术的发展，人类掌握了越来越多的预测与防控自然灾害的知识，虽然人类是否能做自己命运的主人，不能概而言之，考生可以从不同的角度找出自己的答案。

Candidate 1: I think human beings can do much about natural disasters. We should prepare more things in advance so as to deal with the disaster better. For example, before the construction of a building, we should inform people of more knowledge about disaster. In this way, we can reduce the injures and deaths to the minimum. Despite the horrible disasters, we can forecast(预测，预报) them. If we develop more advanced technology, more efforts will certainly be required. As the old saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way. Noting is impossible.

Candidate 2: From ancient times to the present, mankind has suffered various disasters, natural or man-made. And it has proved that one can take control of his own destiny(命运). Although natural disasters are terrible, such as typhoon, earthquake, flood, drought, volcanic eruption and so on which can cause damage hard to estimate, we have thought of ways to combat(与……斗争) them. For example, advanced technology has been developed and some natural calamities are regularly under control. Once we are aware of the potential danger, we should have the ability of self-preservation(自我保护) and calm down when confronted with trouble. We can conquer disasters. One's fate is in his own hands, so long as he recognizes he can't wipe out all difficulties ahead and he's ready to embrace(欣然接受) setbacks and tortures.

Candidate 3: Natural disasters are common occurrences, such as the drought, the mud-rock flow, the hurricane and the hail. Natural disasters are often powerful enough to cause widespread destruction. Facing the raging elements, man may seem helpless. However, there are a lot of things to do to reduce the dangers. For example, although the force of an earthquake is intimidating(吓人的，惊恐的), we can construct quake-proof(抗震的) buildings, avoiding dangerous quake zones. To prevent flooding, we have built dykes(堤坝), dams and reservoirs(水库) can also be used to fight a drought by allowing the irrigation(灌溉) of dry fields. As a last resort(采取的应急手段或对策), we can choose to evacuate a disaster-prone area(撤离易发灾害地区). In fact, human beings have achieved remarkable success in overcoming the natural disasters.

Candidate 4: The history of Man's evolution(进化) is a history of human beings' struggling to conquer natural disasters. Although up to now we seem still helpless in face of some destructive natural disasters, human beings will have much experience in ouvercoming them and gain the upper hand(处于有利地位，占上风) in the future in the fight against them.

In a word, human beingd have achieved remarkable success in overcoming natural disasters. Above all, we have realized that human beings should handle the natural disasters on the basis of knowing more about nature and about the law of nature and not damaging our living environment.

各位答题者不约而同都对本题做出了不同程度地肯定回复，思路清楚，逻辑性强。Candidate 1开门见山，坚信只要人们做好充分的预防工作，定能将自然灾害带来的损失降至最小程度，处处体现着答题者的乐观主义精神；Candidate 2指出从古至今，人类在同各种自然灾害斗争过程中已显示出了不屈不挠的意志，从而掌握自己的命运。Candidate 3和Candidate 4首先说明在可怕的自然灾害前面人们似乎显得无助和渺小，但在和大自然抗衡的过程中人们已积累了相当的经验，只要采取恰当的措施就能避免或减少地震、洪涝等灾害的破坏。