在過去十年中，有上百次地震發(fā)生在地球上。但是它們并非都發(fā)生在靠近斷層線的區(qū)域，我們的托福閱讀考試材料就來說說發(fā)生在嚴(yán)寒的冰原地區(qū)的冰震。
Over a hundred quakes have happened in the last decade. But they didn't occur near fault lines(斷層線). What were they near? Find out on this Moment of Science.
We’re used to thinking of earthquakes as (1)tremors(震動(dòng)，顫抖) that happen along fault lines when tectonic plates ((地球表面的)構(gòu)造板塊)shift. They’re dramatic(吸引人注目的) events: a good-sized(相當(dāng)大的，大型的) earthquake can bring buildings and bridges (2)toppling down(*;倒塌).
Those destructive energy bursts are high frequency(高頻) ground vibrations(震動(dòng)), and that’s the range of vibrations seismologists(地震學(xué)家) most actively study. Just recently, though, a geophysicist(地球物理學(xué)者) at Harvard University named Göran Ekström studied low-frequency(低頻的) vibrations instead, and discovered something interesting.
He found over a hundred quakes have happened in the last decade that aren’t along any fault line. What are they near instead? Ice.
A glacier(冰川) can be thought of as a very (3)slow-moving(動(dòng)作緩慢的) stream. It’s made of solid ice, but over long periods of time it can flow gradually over the land, sometimes carving deep (4)trenches(溝，溝渠) and (5)bulldozing(推土) up rock and soil. Just because it takes centuries to rearrange(重新排列) things, though, doesn’t mean a glacier isn’t enormously powerful at any given moment.
By carefully measuring seismic(地震的) signals, Ekström was able to spot numerous low-frequency quakes in Greenland that hadn’t been identified. He also found that they mostly occurred during July, August, and September. Those warmer months melt lots of glacial ice.
Ekström suspects that liquid water is (6)pooling(淤積) underneath the glacial ice to the point where the thin (7)veneer(外表) of water at the base of the glacier allows the whole mass to slip(滑動(dòng)) a little, the way your foot can skid(打滑) on a slick(光滑的) road.
The quakes he recorded, he believes, are the vibrations set up by all that ice–in one case, six cubic(立方的) miles of it–skidding as much as forty-two feet in under a minute. When that much ice scrapes(刮掉，擦掉), the earth itself shakes.
Notes:
(1)tremors ['treməz] n.震動(dòng);顫抖(tremor的復(fù)數(shù))v.顫動(dòng)(tremor的三單形式)
1.They got only blushes, ejaculations, tremors, and titters, in return for their importunity.
她們只是用臉紅、驚叫、顫抖和傻笑來回答他們的要求。
2.Rescuers are continuing into a third day the hunt for survivors of the earthquake that hit Peru's central coast, as fresh tremors shake the area.
救援一直持續(xù)到了第三天，搜尋發(fā)生在秘魯中部海岸的地震后的幸存者，這次地震又引起了這個(gè)地區(qū)的震動(dòng)。
(2)topple down *;倒塌
The wounded soldier toppled down time after time.
傷兵一次又一次地跌倒。
(3)slow-moving ['sləu'mu:viŋ] adj.滯銷的;動(dòng)作緩慢的
We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.
我們看起來就像一群騎在旋轉(zhuǎn)木馬上的笨拙的孩子。
(4)trench [trentʃ] n.溝,溝渠;戰(zhàn)壕;塹壕 vt. 掘溝 vi.挖戰(zhàn)壕;侵害
1.The soldiers trenched an outpost.
士兵們用戰(zhàn)壕防御前哨。
2.A long narrow trench or furrow dug in the ground, as for irrigation, drainage, or a boundary line.
溝渠，排水溝，''。'水道'。''在地面上狹長(zhǎng)的溝渠或細(xì)溝，用于灌溉、排水或用作分界線。
(5)bulldoze ['buldəuz] vt. 強(qiáng)迫;恫嚇;用推土機(jī)清除
1.The workers bulldozed the building site.
工人們用推土機(jī)把建筑工地推平。
2.His normal style when confronted with an obstacle was to bulldoze it into submission.
在前進(jìn)的道路上碰到障礙時(shí)，他通常的做法是鏟平障礙，繼續(xù)前進(jìn)。
(6)pooling n.聯(lián)營(yíng)，合并;池化 v.積水成池;淤積(pool的ing形式)
1.The road was deeply rutted and pooled with rain.
道路坎坷不平，到處是坑坑洼洼的雨水。
2.Object pooling is a good example.
對(duì)象池就是一個(gè)很好的例子。
(7)veneer [və'niə] n.外表;虛飾;飾面;膠合板的一層;薄木片 vt.膠合;虛飾;給…鑲以飾片
1.Civilization is a thin veneer over a very ancient structure.
文明是建立在古老結(jié)構(gòu)上的一層薄薄的外表。
2.Book-matched and quartered cherry veneer recessed panel in base.
預(yù)訂匹配和駐扎櫻桃飾面休會(huì)小組在基地。
Over a hundred quakes have happened in the last decade. But they didn't occur near fault lines(斷層線). What were they near? Find out on this Moment of Science.
We’re used to thinking of earthquakes as (1)tremors(震動(dòng)，顫抖) that happen along fault lines when tectonic plates ((地球表面的)構(gòu)造板塊)shift. They’re dramatic(吸引人注目的) events: a good-sized(相當(dāng)大的，大型的) earthquake can bring buildings and bridges (2)toppling down(*;倒塌).
Those destructive energy bursts are high frequency(高頻) ground vibrations(震動(dòng)), and that’s the range of vibrations seismologists(地震學(xué)家) most actively study. Just recently, though, a geophysicist(地球物理學(xué)者) at Harvard University named Göran Ekström studied low-frequency(低頻的) vibrations instead, and discovered something interesting.
He found over a hundred quakes have happened in the last decade that aren’t along any fault line. What are they near instead? Ice.
A glacier(冰川) can be thought of as a very (3)slow-moving(動(dòng)作緩慢的) stream. It’s made of solid ice, but over long periods of time it can flow gradually over the land, sometimes carving deep (4)trenches(溝，溝渠) and (5)bulldozing(推土) up rock and soil. Just because it takes centuries to rearrange(重新排列) things, though, doesn’t mean a glacier isn’t enormously powerful at any given moment.
By carefully measuring seismic(地震的) signals, Ekström was able to spot numerous low-frequency quakes in Greenland that hadn’t been identified. He also found that they mostly occurred during July, August, and September. Those warmer months melt lots of glacial ice.
Ekström suspects that liquid water is (6)pooling(淤積) underneath the glacial ice to the point where the thin (7)veneer(外表) of water at the base of the glacier allows the whole mass to slip(滑動(dòng)) a little, the way your foot can skid(打滑) on a slick(光滑的) road.
The quakes he recorded, he believes, are the vibrations set up by all that ice–in one case, six cubic(立方的) miles of it–skidding as much as forty-two feet in under a minute. When that much ice scrapes(刮掉，擦掉), the earth itself shakes.
Notes:
(1)tremors ['treməz] n.震動(dòng);顫抖(tremor的復(fù)數(shù))v.顫動(dòng)(tremor的三單形式)
1.They got only blushes, ejaculations, tremors, and titters, in return for their importunity.
她們只是用臉紅、驚叫、顫抖和傻笑來回答他們的要求。
2.Rescuers are continuing into a third day the hunt for survivors of the earthquake that hit Peru's central coast, as fresh tremors shake the area.
救援一直持續(xù)到了第三天，搜尋發(fā)生在秘魯中部海岸的地震后的幸存者，這次地震又引起了這個(gè)地區(qū)的震動(dòng)。
(2)topple down *;倒塌
The wounded soldier toppled down time after time.
傷兵一次又一次地跌倒。
(3)slow-moving ['sləu'mu:viŋ] adj.滯銷的;動(dòng)作緩慢的
We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.
我們看起來就像一群騎在旋轉(zhuǎn)木馬上的笨拙的孩子。
(4)trench [trentʃ] n.溝,溝渠;戰(zhàn)壕;塹壕 vt. 掘溝 vi.挖戰(zhàn)壕;侵害
1.The soldiers trenched an outpost.
士兵們用戰(zhàn)壕防御前哨。
2.A long narrow trench or furrow dug in the ground, as for irrigation, drainage, or a boundary line.
溝渠，排水溝，''。'水道'。''在地面上狹長(zhǎng)的溝渠或細(xì)溝，用于灌溉、排水或用作分界線。
(5)bulldoze ['buldəuz] vt. 強(qiáng)迫;恫嚇;用推土機(jī)清除
1.The workers bulldozed the building site.
工人們用推土機(jī)把建筑工地推平。
2.His normal style when confronted with an obstacle was to bulldoze it into submission.
在前進(jìn)的道路上碰到障礙時(shí)，他通常的做法是鏟平障礙，繼續(xù)前進(jìn)。
(6)pooling n.聯(lián)營(yíng)，合并;池化 v.積水成池;淤積(pool的ing形式)
1.The road was deeply rutted and pooled with rain.
道路坎坷不平，到處是坑坑洼洼的雨水。
2.Object pooling is a good example.
對(duì)象池就是一個(gè)很好的例子。
(7)veneer [və'niə] n.外表;虛飾;飾面;膠合板的一層;薄木片 vt.膠合;虛飾;給…鑲以飾片
1.Civilization is a thin veneer over a very ancient structure.
文明是建立在古老結(jié)構(gòu)上的一層薄薄的外表。
2.Book-matched and quartered cherry veneer recessed panel in base.
預(yù)訂匹配和駐扎櫻桃飾面休會(huì)小組在基地。