Natural disasters along the Pacific Ocean

廣東 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.

?語篇解碼

本文是一篇說明文。太平洋沿岸自然災害頻發，原因在于板塊運動。文章具體介紹了科學家們發現該原因的過程和結論。

?語言學習

Ⅰ.語料薈萃

語篇單詞重要短語erupt v.噴發；爆發currently adv.目前；當前pattern n.模式；范例stretch v.伸展；拉緊；綿延；延續tsunami n.海嘯destructive adj. 破壞性的；毀滅性的terrorize v.使恐怖Pacific n. 太平洋crush v.擠on average 平均the belt of activity 活動帶agree on 就……達成一致意見a series of 一系列；一連串apart from 除了……外；此外take a look at 看一看thousands of 成千上萬的_____________be independent from 獨立于

Ⅱ.語句分析

1.The plates in the Pacific are moving faster than other plates around the world,adding stress to where the plates interact.太平洋上的板塊比世界上其他板塊移動得更快，給板塊相互作用的地方增加了壓力。

【點石成金】本句中，adding 是現在分詞作狀語， where 引導的是一個賓語從句，表示“……的地方”。

2.This plate is moving northwest, crashing into the North American Plate, which explains all the volcanoes in Mexico.這個板塊正在向西北移動，撞向北美板塊，這解釋了墨西哥所有的火山爆發。

【點石成金】本句中，crashing 是現在分詞作狀語表示伴隨，move和crash兩個動作幾乎同時發生。which引導的是非限制性定語從句，指代的是前面的整個句子。

?語言運用

Ⅰ.例句仿寫

1.那孩子跌倒了，頭撞到門上。

The children fell, __________________ against the door.

2.在那么多人面前他有點緊張，這是可以理解的。

In the presence of so many people he was little tense, __________________.

Ⅱ.寫作實踐

你校與加拿大溫莎學校的師生以“Protect ourselves from natural disasters”為主題，開展了探討月活動，請你圍繞該主題在活動中發表演講。

注意：

1.詞數80左右；

2.可以適當增加細節，以使行文連貫。

Protect ourselves from natural disasters

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