Unit 4 Earthquakes
第四单元 地震
Reading
阅读
A Night the Earth Didn't Sleep
地球的一个不眠之夜
Strange things were happening in the countryside of northeast Hebei.
河北省东北部的农村不断有些怪事发生：
For three days, the water in the village wells rose and fell, rose and fell.
三天来，村子里的井水升升降降，起起伏伏。
Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them.
农夫注意到，水井的井壁上有深深的裂缝，
A smelly gas came out of the cracks.
裂缝里冒出臭气。
In the farmyards, the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous to eat.
农家大院里的鸡，甚至猪都紧张得不想吃食。
Mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide.
老鼠从田地里跑出来找地方藏身。
Fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds.
鱼缸和池塘里的鱼会往外跳。
At about 3:00 am on July 28,1976, some people saw bright lights in the sky.
在1976年7月28日凌晨3点左右，有些人看到天上一道道明亮的光。
The sound of planes could be heard outside the city of Tangshan, even when no planes were in the sky.
在唐山城外也可以听到飞机声，即使天空没有飞机。
In the city, the water pipes in some buildings cracked and burst.
在市内，有些建筑物里的水管爆裂开来。
But the one million people of the city, who thought little of these 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，当天晚上照常睡着了。
At 3:42 am everything began to shake.
在凌晨3点42分，一切都开始摇晃起来。
It seemed as if the world was at an end!
世界似乎到了末日！
Eleven kilometers directly below the city, one of the greatest earthquake of the 20th century had begun.
就在唐山市正下方11公里处，二十世纪最大的一次地震发生了。
It was felt in Beijing, which is more than two hundred kilometers away.
100公里以外的北京市都感到了地震，
One-third of the nation felt it.
全国1/3的地方都有震感。
A huge crack that was eight kilometres long and thirty metres wide cut across houses, roads and canals.
一条8公里长30米宽的巨大裂缝横穿房舍、马路和渠道。
Steam burst from holes in the ground.
地上一些洞穴冒出了蒸气。
Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt.
石头山变成了泥沙河，
In fifteen terrible seconds a large city lay in ruins.
在可怕的15秒钟内，一座大城市就沉沦在一片废墟之中。
The suffering of the people was extreme.
人们遭受的灾难极为深重。
