Natural disasters along the Pacific Ocean

2023-11-29广东李奕群

疯狂英语·新悦读 2023年10期

广东李奕群

1There have been a lot of volcanic activities in a single year.In 2018, Mount Mayon in the Philippines erupted in January which continued for over a month.In February,Mount Sinabung erupted in Indonesia.And in June, an eruption in Guatemala killed more than 100 people.

2On average, there are 10 to 20 volcanoes erupting around the world at any given time.Most are concentrated along the edges of the Pacific Ocean.This region is known as the Ring of Fire, with hundreds of volcanoes stretching 40,000 kilometers.It's also where most of the earthquakes and tsunamis in the world take place.That year alone, the region saw 4 eruptions and 5 of the world's biggest earthquakes.The Ring of Fire is where some of history's most destructive natural disasters have happened and will continue to happen.

3Volcanoes have terrorized people for centuries.In the 1800s, explorers and scientists started grouping them together.Take a look at the map from 1852.It has the volcanic series of Australia and the volcanic series of Japan and Kamchatka, in Russia.Scientists recognized the belt of activity, but it would take another 100 years until they agreed on what caused it.

4By the 1960s, most scientists concluded the earth's surface is made up of a series of plates that slowly move into and apart from each other.The Ring of Fire is the result of these plates crashing into each other.The plates in the Pacific are moving faster than other plates around the world,adding stress to where the plates interact.This plate ismoving northwest,crashing into the North American Plate,which explains all the volcanoes in Mexico.Over in California, the Pacific Plate is crushing past the North American Plate—where they meet is called the San Andreas Fault.The movement causes thousands of earthquakes a year.A few of them are even large enough to cause serious damage.Like the San Francisco-Oakland earthquake in 1989, which killed 63 people and injured nearly 4,000 people.

Reading Check

1.What's the location of the Ring of Fire?

A.Along the edges of the Indian Ocean.

B.Along the edges of the Pacific Ocean.

C.Along the edges of the Atlantic Ocean.

D.Along the edges of the Arctic Ocean.

2.How did scientists recognize the belt of activity?

A.They did research on the spot.

B.They were told by other explorers.

C.They referred to the resources in the library.

D.They grouped the volcanoes together on the map.

3.What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A.How the San Andreas Fault was formed.

B.The crash of plates on the earth's surface caused many natural disasters.

C.What effects the San Francisco-Oakland earthquake had.

D.There are many natural disasters along the edges of the Pacific Ocean.

4.What is the reason for the volcanoes in Mexico?

A.The plates in the Pacific are moving southwest.

B.The plates in the Pacific are full of mountains in this region.

C.The plates in the Pacific are moving slower than other plates.

D.The plates in the Pacific crash into the North American Plate.

➢语篇解码

本文是一篇说明文。太平洋沿岸自然灾害频发，原因在于板块运动。文章具体介绍了科学家们发现该原因的过程和结论。

➢语言学习

Ⅰ.语料荟萃

语篇单词重要短语erupt v.喷发；爆发currently adv.目前；当前pattern n.模式；范例stretch v.伸展；拉紧；绵延；延续tsunami n.海啸destructive adj. 破坏性的；毁灭性的terrorize v.使恐怖Pacific n. 太平洋crush v.挤on average 平均the belt of activity 活动带agree on 就……达成一致意见a series of 一系列；一连串apart from 除了……外；此外take a look at 看一看thousands of 成千上万的_____________be independent from 独立于

Ⅱ.语句分析

1.The plates in the Pacific are moving faster than other plates around the world,adding stress to where the plates interact.太平洋上的板块比世界上其他板块移动得更快，给板块相互作用的地方增加了压力。

【点石成金】本句中，adding 是现在分词作状语， where 引导的是一个宾语从句，表示“……的地方”。

2.This plate is moving northwest, crashing into the North American Plate, which explains all the volcanoes in Mexico.这个板块正在向西北移动，撞向北美板块，这解释了墨西哥所有的火山爆发。

【点石成金】本句中，crashing 是现在分词作状语表示伴随，move和crash两个动作几乎同时发生。which引导的是非限制性定语从句，指代的是前面的整个句子。