常春藤解析英語 86 Swellings of the Earth 有地震！

Swellings of the Earth 有地震!

by Matthew Brown

Earthquakes are unpredictable, powerful, and sometimes devastating.

地震不可預測且力量強大，有時還深具毀滅性。

9/1

Outside of war and disease, earthquakes have been the cause of some of the world's most devastating amounts of death and destruction. Earthquakes can hit any country, big or small, rich or poor. And when a country suffers from a major earthquake, it takes a long time to heal.

Why do earthquakes happen? Earthquakes are caused when rock underground suddenly breaks. The part where it breaks is called a fault. When this happens, the ground shakes with seismic waves. The sections of rock shift because of the pressure of the earth, and when they rub against each other, the enormous friction causes the ground above to quake.

When China was hit with a major earthquake just a few months ago, more than 70,000 people were killed and countless more were injured. Thousands upon thousands were left homeless. However, the earthquake affected the country differently than it would have had it taken place a few decades ago. Because of modern technology and international cooperation, some people were helped more quickly than would have been possible in the past. Modern media and the Internet allowed the whole world to see what was happening in China, and many countries were quick to offer support and sympathy.

Taiwan experienced its own major earthquake in 1999. The earthquake mostly affected central Taiwan. Thousands of people were killed, and many more were injured and left homeless. It was a sad time for Taiwan, and for many Taiwanese, the earthquake was the cause of many painful memories.

單字小鋪

1. swelling n. 隆起，膨脹

2. destruction n. 破壞;毀滅

3. heal vi. 痊愈

4. underground a. 地下的

5. fault n. 斷層

6. seismic wave　　地震波(由地震震源向四處傳播的振動)

seismic a. 地震引起的

7. section n. 區(qū)塊;部分

8. shift vi. 移動

9. friction n. 摩擦

10. quake vi. 震動，搖晃 & n. 地震

11. countless a. 數不盡的

12. homeless a. 無家可歸的

13. cooperation n. 合作

14. media n. 大眾媒體(單數形為 medium)

15. painful a. 痛苦的

詞組小鋪

1. outside of...　　除了……之外

2. rub against...　　和……摩擦

3. thousands upon thousands...　　成千上萬的……

4. allow sb/sth to V　　使某人∕某物得以……

文法一點靈

...than it would have had it taken place a few decades ago.

= ...than it would have if it had taken place a few decades ago.

注意:

在假設語氣 if 子句中，若有表過去完成式的助動詞 had、be 動詞過去式的 were 及表 『萬一』的助動詞 should 出現時，可將上述詞類往前移位置于主詞前，而將 if 省略，其句型如下：

If + S + had + 過去分詞, 主要子句

= Had + S + 過去分詞, 主要子句

例: Had Bill told the truth, the police would have solved the case.

(比爾當時要是說出真相，警方早就破案了。)

If + S + were..., 主要子句

= Were + S +..., 主要子句

例: Were it not for you, we would not be in so much trouble.

(要不是你，我們也不會有這么多麻煩。)

If + S + should + V, 主要子句

= Should + S + V, 主要子句

例: Should Mike call for me while I'm out, ask him to leave a message.

(萬一麥克在我外出時打電話找我，請他留言。)

精解字詞詞組

1. devastating a. 令人震驚的;毀滅性的

devastate vt. 破壞，毀滅

= destroy vt.

例: Many buildings collapsed when that devastating earthquake occurred.

(很多大樓在那場毀滅性的地震中倒塌。)

例: The stock market collapse devastated the nation's economy.

(股市崩盤摧毀了該國的經濟。)

2. suffer from...　　受……之苦;罹患……疾病

例: Ted suffers from migraines a few times a month.

(泰德每個月都會有幾次偏頭痛。)

3. pressure n. 擠壓;壓力

under pressure　　處于壓力之下

例: Under pressure, the president agreed to the terrorists' demands.

(總統(tǒng)在壓力下同意恐怖份子提出的要求。)

4. affect vt. 影響

effect n. 影響

have an effect on...　　對……有影響

= have an influence/impact on...

例: Lack of sleep can have an effect on your performance at school.

(睡眠不足會影響你在學業(yè)上的表現。)

5. take place　　發(fā)生;舉行

例: The demonstration took place in the heart of Seoul.

(那場示威游行發(fā)生在首爾的市中心。)

6. sympathy n. 慰問;同情

sympathize vi. 同情;憐憫

have sympathy for...　　對……感到同情

= sympathize with...

例: I have no sympathy for those who fall for scams because of their own greed.

(我不同情那些由于自身貪婪而受騙的人。)

中文翻譯

9/1

除了戰(zhàn)爭與疾病，世界上某些巨大的傷亡人數與大規(guī)模的破壞是由地震所引起的。任何一個國家，不論大小或貧富，都有可能發(fā)生地震。當一個國家因大地震而受苦受難時，都需要很長的一段時間才能恢復正常。

地震為何會發(fā)生?地震形成的原因是因為地層突然斷裂。斷裂的區(qū)塊稱之為斷層。當這種情況發(fā)生時，地面就會隨著地震波而搖動。巖塊的移動是由于地殼擠壓所引起，當地殼相互擠壓時，巨大的摩擦力使得上方的地面搖動。

中國大陸在數個月前發(fā)生強烈的大地震。死亡的人數超過 7 萬人，更有數不清的受傷民眾，成千上萬的人無家可歸。然而，此次地震對中國大陸造成的傷害，與如果發(fā)生在幾十年前相比將大不相同。拜現代科技與國際間的合作所賜，有些人所受到的援助比以往來得快速許多?，F代傳媒與因特網使得全世界都能看到中國大陸所發(fā)生的事，許多國家因此迅速地提供援助及表達慰問之意。

臺灣本身在 1999 年也經歷過大地震。那次的地震影響中臺灣甚巨，造成數千人死亡，更多的人因而受傷及無家可歸。對臺灣而言，那是段相當悲傷難熬的時期，而對許多臺灣人來說，那次地震更是痛苦的回憶。