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Nearly two weeks after Taal volcano's first eruption in over 40 years, the Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has lowered its threat assessment a notch, and local residents have begun to stream back to their homes in buses, pickups and on the backs of motorcycles. When Taal roared to life on January 12th, the plume of steam and ash it sent 32,000 feet into the air was so vast it generated its own weather system, with thunder and lightning. As the falling cinders turned day to night, tens of thousands of evacuees fled for hastily created evacuation centres a safe distance from Taal's spite.
Usually, Taal is a draw. The volcano has made its own island in the middle of Taal lake, which occupies the caldera of a much bigger volcano which exploded aeons ago. The surrounding slopes are forested. Papayas and vegetables thrive on village plots by the shore. The lake itself provides livelihoods to those farming tilapia fish. More jobs come from catering to visitors from Manila who flock to the lake, or to the resort town of Tagatay on an overlooking ridge, for the fresh air, sweeping views and grilled fish.
Yet these times are hardly usual. The eruption seems to have caused a lot of the lake's water to evaporate. Taal's ash has turned a vast area a monotone grey. Rain following the eruption has hardened the ash to concrete. The tin roofs of villagers' houses have buckled and trees have lost their main branches.
The repair teams from the electricity board and villagers chipping the ash off roofs have begun to rebuild their homes—life has a yen for normality, too. Not the volcano, however. The earthquakes following the eruption have fallen in number and severity, and an alarming build-up of magma appears to have diminished. But Paolo Reniva, a geologist, expects Taal's current cycle of activity to last months or years.
This is not what those trying to resume their lives want to hear. The current threat assessment of 3 on a scale of 0 to 5 risks being viewed as normal by locals. And just as former President Donald Trump downplays climate change, so populist Filipino politicians downplay nature's forces. The vice-mayor of Talisay, Charlie Natanauan, a local businessman who is campaigning to unseat the mayor, goes further by urging locals not to believe the “idiot” scientists. Taal is not going to explode again, he insists, because he knows its history; if he's wrong, he adds, then throw him into the crater. What's more, the scientists' warnings about poisoned tilapia are off-the-mark too, and he will eat as many fish as needed to prove it. It goes down a storm with locals.
Sitting on a veranda by the lake, next to a gold-painted statue of himself toting a rifle and pistol, Mr. Natanauan contemplates his future plans. Behind him, dozens of dead tilapia float upside down. Just beyond, the volcano gently steams.
6. The eruption of Taal volcano described in the first paragraph indicates ______.
[A] local residents' terror in returning home
[B] human's vulnerability to natural forces
[C] the unreliability of the threat assessment
[D] the rapid evacuation of the local evacuees
7. According to Paragraph 2, Taal provided local residents with ______.
[A] economic gains
[B] rich mineral deposits
[C] a place for recreation
[D] the development of fishery
8. It can be inferred from Paolo Reniva's expectation that ______.
[A] scientific observations should be resumed
[B] the earthquakes will intensify after the eruption
[C] the volcanic activity cycle will be over soon
[D] the time for reconstruction may not be proper
9. Charlie Natanauan's attitude toward the threat of Taal may be ______.
[A] objective
[B] contemptuous
[C] discreet
[D] implicit
10. It can be inferred from Paragraph 6 that ______.
[A] Mr. Natanauan's plan looks very promising
[B] the prospect of fishery industry is bleak
[C] the potential danger may come at any time
[D] Taal volcano will not explode again