Scientists Debate Evidence of Ancient Megatsunami
Reading Passage
By
Michael Casey, for National Geographic
Try to read the passage first, and then check if you understand the chosen words and sentences well.
For nearly a decade, geologist Dallas Abbott and her colleagues have been trying to prove that an enormous space rock, possibly an asteroid, smashed into the Indian Ocean about 10,000 years ago and created a megatsunami, a set of giant waves that washed over the east coast of Africa. Such a tsunami could have created waves as high as 300 feet (91 meters)—three times larger than the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 that left 230,000 dead.
Words:
Enormous adj. 巨大的
Asteroid n. 小行星
Smash v. 猛撞
Megatsunami n. 大海嘯
Sentence:
Such a tsunami could have created waves as high as 300 feet (91 meters)—three times larger than the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 that left 230,000 dead.
這樣的海嘯能夠制造300英尺的波浪(91米)，是2004年造成230,000人死亡的印度洋海嘯的三倍之多。
The proof, Abbott contends, lies in sandy wedge-shaped features called chevrons in Madagascar, as well as what might be a deep ocean crater between Madagascar and Australia. The idea is that either a huge impact, or a large landslide from a volcano on the island Réunion, sparked the tsunami that created the chevrons.
Words:
Contend v. 聲稱
Wedge-shaped 楔形的
Madagascar 馬達(dá)加斯加
Landslide n. 山崩
Spark v. 閃現(xiàn)，激勵(lì)
Chevron n. 山形袖章
Sentence：
The idea is that either a huge impact, or a large landslide from a volcano on the island Réunion, sparked the tsunami that created the chevrons.
這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)是巨大的撞擊或是R島上火山山崩引起了產(chǎn)生山形袖章的海嘯。
Now, Abbott and an international team of researchers have presented further evidence to back up their theory: a geo-chemical fingerprint from Madagascar that firms up the date for the massive tsunami. The study of ancient megatsunamis has been controversial, though; not only is it hard to detect evidence that literally washes away, but also to establish proof of a tsunami's cause—such as an impact or earthquake—occurring at the same time.
Words:
Back up 支持
Fingerprint n. 指紋
Massive adj. 巨大的
Wash away 沖走
Sentence:
The study of ancient megatsunamis has been controversial, though; not only is it hard to detect evidence that literally washes away, but also to establish proof of a tsunami's cause—such as an impact or earthquake—occurring at the same time.
可是古代大海嘯的研究是有爭(zhēng)議性的，不僅僅是因?yàn)楹茈y去探測(cè)那些實(shí)在地 被沖走的證據(jù)，還因?yàn)榇_定海嘯的原因-比如說(shuō)是撞擊或是地震-是發(fā)生在同一時(shí)間的。