北师大版高中英语模块7--Unit 22 lesson3-4

[00:00.84]D Volcanoes and earthquakes
[00:03.57]are even more dangerous than in the past
[00:06.34]as around half the world's population now
[00:08.95]lives in cities.
[00:10.41]There are more than 500 active
[00:12.79]and semi-active volcanoes,
[00:14.61]about fifty of which erupt each year,
[00:16.96]and more than 500 million people
[00:19.24]now live within the range
[00:21.16]of a volcanic¹ eruption².
[00:23.54]An even greater number live at risk,
[00:25.98]in some degree, from earthquakes
[00:28.05]which have taken a toll³
[00:29.36]of more than 1.6 million
[00:31.45]lives in the last hundred years.
[00:35.82]E All the betting
[00:37.68]from the disaster professionals
[00:39.11]in that things will get worse.
[00:41.53]Professor Hou Ming, of Beijing University,
[00:43.99]is a volcanologist who has been warning
[00:46.34]for years that the world has not seen the worst
[00:48.83]nature can do.
[00:50.43]The worst eruption in human history
[00:52.31]was probably Mt Tambora in 1815,in Indonesia.
[00:57.86]It pumped so much dust into the air
[01:00.18]that it effectively cancelled the following
[01:02.09]summer in Europe and America.
[01:04.50]But geographial evidence shows
[01:06.33]that 73,000 years ago
[01:08.31]there was a much greater eruption.
[01:10.64]"It reduced temperatures by maybe 6C
[01:14.89]in some places and the whole planet
[01:17.28]was plunged⁴ into winter for years.
[01:19.83]And there are about two of these events
[01:22.09]every 100,000 years..."
[01:23.55]

1 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

2 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。