节目资讯
刊物:旅游精选
日期:2010-06-22
难易度:High
关键字:rumbling, hover, archaeologist, imprint, cinder, plaster
(Music).
Hello, everyone. You are tuned to Studio Classroom Worldwide. Thanks for joining
us today.
My name is Steve.
This month’s Studio Classroom TRAVEL feature takes us to Italy.
And, if you can believe it, we’re not going to say anything about the food.
Rather, our focus is on Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that buried the ancient city
of Pompeii almost two thousand years ago.
Today, with over two million visitors a year, Pompeii is Italy’s most popular
tourist attraction.
And, when you’ve got the sights of Rome, Venice and Florence to compete with,
that is saying a lot.
Now, let’s step back in time a few days before Vesuvius exploded.
Join us as we begin today’s reading on page 41.
(Music).
Mount Vesuvius.
The eruption.
Days before the eruption, residents of Pompeii heard rumblings and experienced
several minor earthquakes.
Then a huge column of volcanic ash and cinders burst from the mountain and
hovered over the area.
Hours later the column fell to Earth, showering the city with
400-degrees-Celcius ash, gas and debris.
Nearly 19 hours after the eruption began, about 3 meters of ash covered
practically everything except the tops of Pompeii’s highest buildings.
In neighboring Herculaneum, a rushing stream of boiling mud covered the town,
burying everything under 23 meters of ash and mud.
The massive volcanic eruption lasted nearly a day and left over 3,000 people
dead.
Hi, friends. Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide. I’m Chip.
And I’m Chelsea.
And, we’re here talking about Mount Vesuvius again.
We learned yesterday that Mount Vesuvius is a volcano in Italy that erupted in
A.D. 79.
And, yesterday we also learned that this was a very frightening event, things
like ash and stone and pumice showered down on the city of Pompeii.
And, we have a firsthand eyewitness account of this event from someone named
Pliny the Younger,
who recorded exactly what it looked like, what it felt like, and what happened
during that frightening day in A.D. 79.
OK. And, our article today starts off with the word ”eruption.” And we learned
this word yesterday.
It’s the explosion of a volcano.
It’s what... uh... what we call when a volcano bursts open and it throws stone
and rock and ash up into the sky.
So, let’s learn a little bit about the eruption.
Well, just days before the eruption, residents of Pompeii, that ancient city in
Italy, heard rumblings and experienced several minor earthquakes.
So, it sounds like there were some warning signs for this eruption.
It does sound like there were warning signs, and today we would certainly look
at those as warning signs.
But maybe back then, they didn’t have the technology and they didn’t know much
about volcanoes,
so maybe they weren’t warning signs to them.
But, they did hear these rumblings and experienced several minor earthquakes.
And if something is rumbling, that means it is making a continuous low and deep
sound.
So, it can be used as a verb or as a noun.
But they heard these low, deep sounds.
You might think of during a storm, if you hear thunder - thunder is something
that rumbles, so thunder is rumbling, we could say.
Right. So thunder is a rumbling sound, or it’s the sound of rumbling.
So, here, after these warning signs, after the sounds of rumbling and some minor
earthquakes, then a huge column of volcanic ash and cinders burst from the
mountain.
So here, if we’re talking about a column of something, it’s probably describing
the shape.
Now, you actually have a picture of some old columns, uh, standing in an ancient
city there, uh, in your magazine on page 41.
The columns are these tall cylinders that would support the roof of a building.
So here, we’re talking about a column of volcanic ash and cinders.
Right. And cinders are rough, and maybe crusty, pieces of volcanic lava that
would come out of the exploding volcano.
And if you know anything about a volcano, you do know that it produces lava.
And, lava is a liquid fire.
It’s very, very hot and it destroies anything in its path. And so, cinders are
pieces that come out of this hot lava.
So, if they’re up in the air, they are still very, very hot. And remember, this
is all raining down or showering down on the city below.
So, very, very bad situation to be in.
Yeah, that word ”lava” is a good one to know.
L-A-V-A, lava.
Because, actually, ”pumice,” the word that we learned yesterday, is, uh, comes
from lava rock.
And also these cinders would be another form of lava rock.
So, here we have things bursting from the mountain and hovering over the area,
that means that they are floating in the air over this area.
If something hovers, then it floats over the surface of something.
So actually, Chelsea, when I go out into the wilderness, sometimes I have a
cloud of mosquitoes hovering over me, waiting to attack me.
And I certainly wouldn’t want volcanic ash and cinders or a cloud of mosquitoes
hovering over me.
Hours later the column fell to Earth, showering the city with
400-degrees-Celcius ash, gas and debris.
Now, I personally don’t like being stuck out in a rain storm and being showered
with water.
I can’t even imagine what it would be like to step outside and see the sky
showering down 400-degrees-Celcius debris from this volcano.
What a frightening situation to be in.
This would have been an experience of unbelievable terror and horror.
And it sounds... it sounds like it took several hours.
Nearly 19 hours after the eruption began, about 3 meters of ash coverd
practically everything except for the tops of Pompeii’s highest buildings.
And, yes, I would certainly expect that 3 meters of ash would cover most of the
city, I mean, except for the tallest buildings.
Right. It sounds like nobody was safe. If that much ash is coming down and
covering things, then nobody is safe.
So, it’s a very bad situation for the entire city of Pompeii.
Now, not only was Pompeii affected, but also another city called Herculaneum.
It was a neighboring city, and there, a rushing stream of boiling mud covered
the town.
Now, this might also be referring to lava, and it buried everything underneath
23 meters of ash and mud.
And the massive volcanic eruption lasted nearly a day, and left over 3,000
people dead.
So this was a terrible event in the history of Italy, and certainly in the
history of this area.
Well, that’s all we have for now. We’re going to come back after the break. But
before we take a break, let’s visit the Chat Room.
Slow day, huh?
Yeah... But I’m glad to have some free time to surf the Web and catch up on the
news.
Anything interesting going on?
Let’s see.
Hmm... Oh, there was a volcanic eruption on this island in the Pacific.
Really? You know, I was just reading about Mount Vesuvius, which is an active
volcano in Italy.
Hey, did you know that when a volcano erupts, you have 400-degrees-Celcius ash,
gas and debris?
Oh, uh, Ken, that’s actually pronounced debris, not debris.
Debris?
Yep.
Debris describes the remains of something that has been destroyed.
So the debris from the volcano is geological debris.
There’s also marine debris, which refers to floating garbage in the ocean.
And in space, there’s space debris, which is the remains of man-made objects
that no longer serve any useful purpose.
So, is debris singular or plural?
Hmm, that’s a good question.
You know, I think we should ask our grammar expert, Doris, that question.
Let me contact her for you.
OK.
The word ”debris” doesn’t have a plural form.
If you want to talk about a lot of debris, or if you want to pick it up, you
have to gather it in piles, which is plural.
OK. So, what are some other nouns that don’t have a plural?
Let’s see.
There’s luggage, tableware, furniture, bacon and many others. They’re all
singular.
So we should never put an S at the end of those words.
That’s right.
Hey, I think someone wants to check out a book.
Oh, finally.
How can I help you?
(Chinese).