Unit4 Earthquakes
Reading
A NIGHT EARTH DIDN’T SLEEP
Strange things were ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )happening in the countryside of northeast Hebei. For three days the water in the village wells _____(rise )and fell, _____(rise) and fell. Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them. A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In the farmyards, the chickens and even the pigs were_____nervous to eat. Mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide. Fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds. At about 3:00 am on July 28, 1976, some people saw bright lights in the sky. The sound of planes could be heard outside the city of Tangshan even when no planes were in the sky. In the city, the water pipes in some buildings cracked and _____(burst ). But the one million people of the city, who thought little ofthese events, were asleep as usual that night.
At 3:42 am everything ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com ) began to shake. It seemed as if the world was at an end! Eleven kilometres directly below the city the _____(great) earthquake of the 20th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing, _____ is more than two hundred kilometres away. One third of the nation felt it. A huge crack that was eight kilometres long and thirty metres wide cut across houses, roads and canals. Steam burst from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. In fifteen terrible seconds a large city ____(lie) in ruins. The suffering of the people was extreme. Two thirds of them died or _______(injure) during the earthquake. Thousands of families were killed and many children _______(leave)without parents. The number of people who were killed or injured reached more than 400,000.
But how could the _____(survive) believe it was natural Everywhere they looked nearly everything was _______(destroy). All of the city’s hospitals, 75% of its factories and buildings and 90% of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground _____red autumn leaves. No wind, however, could blow them away. Two dams fell and most of the bridges also fell or were not safe for travelling. The railway tracks were now useless pieces of steel. Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again. Half a million pigs and millions of chickens were _____(die). Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were ______(shock). Then, later that afternoon, another big quake which was almost as strong _____ the first one shook Tangshan. Some of the rescue workers and doctors were _____(trap)under the ruins. More buildings fell down. Water, food, and electricity were hard ________(get ). People began to wonder how long the disaster would last.
All hope was ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )not_____(lose). Soon after the quakes, the army sent 150,000 soldiers to Tangshan to help the rescue workers. Hundreds of thousands of people were helped. The army organized teams to dig out those ______were trapped and _____(bury) the dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10,000 miners were rescued from the coal mines there. Workers built shelters for survivors______ homes had been ______(destroy). Fresh water was taken to the city by train, truck and plane. Slowly, the city began to breathe again.
Using language
Office of the City Government
Tangshan, Hebei
China
Congratulations! We ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com ) are _____(please) to tell you that you have won the high school speaking competition about new Tangshan. Your speech was heard by a group of five judges, all of _____ agreed that it was the best one this year. Your parents and your school should be very proud____-you!
Next month the ci ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )ty will open a new park to honour those _____died in the terrible disaster, The park will also honour those ____ helped the survivors. Our office would like to have you speak to the park visitors on July 28 at 11:00 am. As you know, this is the day the quake happened thirty years ago.
We invite you to ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )bring your family and friends _____- that special day.
一:重点单词
1. burst vi. (burst, burst) 爆裂;爆发 n. 突然破裂;爆发
My wife burst into tears when she heard the bad news.
The crowd burst out cheering.
burst into sth. (tears/laughter/song/flowers)突然而猛烈地发出
burst out doing迸发;突然发作
2. injure vt. 损害;伤害; 刺伤(感情) the injured 伤者 injury n. 伤害;侮辱
He was seriously injured in the traffic accident.
Anyway, I injured their pride.
The injured were sent to hospital.
3. ruin n. 废墟;毁灭 vt. 毁灭;使破产;破坏 ruins废墟 in ruins 破败不堪,成为废墟
The whole supermarket was ruined in a great fire.
An earthquake left the whole town in ruins.
4. destroy vt. 破坏;毁坏; ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )消灭 destruction n. 破坏;毁坏 destructive adj. 毁灭性的
Fire destroyed several houses in the area.
5. damage n.&vt. 损失;损害 cause/do damage to… 损害……;破坏……
The majority of the damage is easy to repair.
My luggage seems to be damaged.
Goods which a ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )re easily damaged, in particular glasses, need special packing
6. shock vt. &vi (使) 震惊;震动 n. 休克;震惊;打击 culture shock 文化休克
shocking adj. 可怕的 shocked adj. 震惊的
I was shocked when I heard about your accident. 当我听到你出事后我很震惊。
7.bury vt. 埋葬;掩埋;隐藏 be buried in=bury oneself in /under专心致志于;埋头于
He buried himself i ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )n his work. He was sitting with his head buried in a book.
8.come to one’s rescue=come to one’s help 营救
Hold on and I will come to your rescue.
rescue sb. from danger 救人脱险 rescue sb/sth from sb 从某人手中营救某人
a rescue party/team 抢救组、队
9. trap vt. 使陷入困境 n. 陷阱;困境 be trapped in 被困在某处
Some miners were trapped underground after the collapse.
10. judge vt. 审判;审理;裁决;裁判 judge n. 专家;法官;鉴定人;鉴赏家
judging from 根据……判断 judg(e)ment n. 判断,判断力
Judging from his skin, he is from Africa.
Don’t judge a person by appearances.
二:短语荟萃
right away(=straight away) 立刻;马上
at once / immediate ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )ly/ in no time/ quick as a flash/ in a flash/ straight away
We will get down to the work right away.
as if=as though 仿佛;好像 even if=even though 即使
as if to do 似乎要干某事 as if doing好像正在做某事
It looks as if it is going to rain.
He stood there as if waiting for someone.
She opened her lips as if to say something.
I remember it as if it happened yesterday.
I felt as if I had known her for years.
Tom looks almost as if he were drunk.
3.at an end 结束;终结 in the end 最后;最终;终于
at the end of 在……末端 by the end of 到……时为止
4. dig out sb/sth 挖出;翻出;查明
Let’s dig out the roots. dig out the truth 探明实情
5. put down 记下来 write down /take down / note down记下来
6. instead of 而不 ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )是 We should do something instead of just talking about it.
三:课文重点点拨
1. For three days t ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )he water in the village wells rose and fell, rose and fell. 三天来,村里的井水升升降降,起起伏伏。
rise (vi.)--rose--risen 升起 Flood waters are still rising.
raise (vt.) ---rai ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )sed --raised 举起,提高raise awareness ,筹钱raise money , 养育raise a family
2. But the one mill ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )ion people of the city, who thought little of theses events, were asleep as usual that night.但是,唐山市的一百万居民几乎都没有把这些情况当一回事,当天晚上照常睡觉了。
think little of ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com ) these events --- to pay no attention to the events 没当回事;对这些情况几乎没考虑
类似的用法还有:
think nothing of--- 认为没什么, 对…评价低
She thinks nothing of walking thirty miles a day.
think highly/ a lot/ a great deal of--- 对.高度评价
think poorly/badly/ill/little/nothing/not much of --- 对…评价很低
3. In fifteen terrible seconds,a large city lay in ruins.
在可怕的十五秒钟之内,一座大城市就沉沦在一片废墟之中。
Lie-- lay-- lain--lying 躺,位于,坐落于,处于某个状态 lie awake
lie -lied---lied---lying v./n.--- 说谎
lay--laid,--- laid--laying --- 铺设, 产卵, 放置
The living room is ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )clean and tidy ,with a dining table laid for a meal to be cooked .
4. Two-thirds of the ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )m died or were injured during the earthquake. 2/3的人在地震中受伤或死去。
About three-fifths of the building’s surface was painted red.
About three-fi ( http: / / www.21cnjy.com )fths the buildings in the city were destroyed in the earthquake.