ENVIRONMENT REPORT - Tornadoes

ENVIRONMENT REPORT
–
June 7, 2002: Tornadoes²

By Jill Moss³

This is the VOA Special English Environment Report.

Every year in the United States people watch for dangerous windstorms called tornadoes. A tornado¹ is a violently
turning pipe of air suspended⁵ from a dense⁶ cloud. It forms when winds blowing in separate directions meet in the
clouds and begin to turn in circles. Warm air rising from below causes the wind pipe to reach toward⁷ the ground.
It is not officially a tornado unless it has touched the ground. A tornado can destroy anything in its path.

Tornadoes come in many sizes. They can be thin pipes with openings on the ground just a few
meters across. Or they can be huge pipes that stretch as far as one-and-a-half kilometers. A
tornado’s size is not linked to its strength. Large tornadoes can be very weak, and some of the
smallest can be the most damaging. No matter how big or small, however, the strongest winds
on Earth are in tornadoes.

Tornadoes are most common in the central part of the United States called “Tornado Alley⁸.
”
This area stretches south from western Iowa down to Texas.

Weather experts have done a lot of research in Tornado Alley. They have discovered that
unlike severe ocean storms, tornadoes can strike without warning. Usually weather experts can report days before
a severe ocean storm hits. However, tornadoes can form within minutes. There is almost no time for public
warnings before they strike.

The force of a tornado is judged not by its size, but by the total damage caused to human-made structures. The
Fujita Scale is the device⁹ used to measure tornadoes. It is named after Ted⁴ Fujita. He was a University of Chicago
weather expert who developed the measure in the nineteen-seventies. There are six levels on the measure.
Tornadoes that cause only light damage are an F-zero. The ones with the highest winds that destroy well-built
homes and throw vehicles more than one-hundred meters are an F-five.

In the nineteen-sixties, about six-hundred-fifty tornadoes were reported each year in
the United States. Now, more than one -thousand tornadoes are seen yearly¹⁰. Weather
experts do not think the increase is caused by climate changes. Instead, they say
Americans are moving away from cities into more open farming areas. This means
that they see and report tornadoes more often.

This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by Jill Moss.

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An F4 tornado hit the town
of La Plata, Maryland, on
April 28; three people died.
(VOA photo - Rosanne Skirble)

1 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

2 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

3 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

4 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

5 suspended   

a.被暂时搁置的

参考例句：

• A lamp was suspended from the ceiling. 一盏吊灯悬在天花板上。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area. 英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

7 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

8 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

9 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

10 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

11 version   

n.版本；型号；叙述，说法

参考例句：

• His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
• What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样？