新西兰英语 736 Solomon Islands earthquake
英语课
A strong earthquake hit the Solomon Islands on Wednesday. It was 8.0 on the Richter scale 1 and was followed 40 minutes later by a 7.0 earthquake. This was only 10km deep. There was a small tsunami 2 – about 1.5 metres high – which killed some elderly 3 people and a small child.
New Zealand officials gave a tsunami warning 4 to parts of New Zealand, especially the west coast. They expected a tsunami could reach New Zealand in 5 to 6 hours but that did not happen.
There have been many after-shocks in Solomon Islands since the first earthquake. This morning’s after-shock was 6.6 and caused a lot more damage. There are more than 200 islands in the Solomons and communication is difficult. There is probably damage to telephones. Boat travel is dangerous if there is a risk of tsunami. Also the airport at the capital Honiara was closed by flooding.
John Key has offered money and help. The islands are in the Pacific Ocean, north-west of New Zealand and east of Papua New Guinea. About 550,000 people live on these islands.
Vocabulary
?Richter scale – one way of measuring the strength of an earthquake; 8.0 is very strong
?tsunami – very high waves caused by an earthquake
?reach – get to
?communication – contact between people by talking, mail, email, etc
?risk – danger
n.比例；程度；范围
- The scale of this map is an inch to a mile.这张地图的比例尺是一英寸代表一英里。
- He's in business on a small scale.他做的是小本生意。
n.海啸
- Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
- Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。
adj.年老的；年龄相当大的
- He is getting elderly.他逐渐变老了。
- The elderly man is quite energetic.这位上了年纪的老人仍精力充沛。