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美国黄石国家公园

  黄石国家公园（Yellowstone National Park）简称黄石公园。是世界第一座国家公园，成立于1872年。黄石公园位于美国中西部怀俄明州的西北角，并向西北方向延伸到爱达荷州和蒙大拿州，面积达8956平方公里。这片地区原本是印地安人的圣地，但因美国探险家路易斯与克拉克的发掘，而成为世界上最早的国家公园。它在1978年被列为世界自然遗产。

  黄石公园最初吸引人们的兴趣是地热现象，这里拥有比世界上其他所有地方都多的间歇泉和温泉、彩色的黄石河大峡谷、化石森林，以及黄石湖。但是，很多年来很多游客根本没有意识到自己看到的是世界上最大的活火山。所有这些温泉、间歇泉和蒸气孔都需要巨大的地核熔岩能量来维持，在黄石公园熔岩散发出的热量已经非常接近地表。专家表示，黄石火山喷发周期为60-80万年，而至今距离上次喷发时间已经有64.2万年了，这座世界上最大的超级活火山已经进入了红色预警状态，就算在不受外力（指太阳活动以及人工钻探）的情况下它也随时都可能喷发。

34.When The Earth Quakes 地震时刻

1. On the night of August 17,1959,at about 20 minutes before midnight, the ground in the vicinity of Yellowstone National Park began shaking violently. 1959年8月17日的晚上，大约午夜前20分钟，黄石国家公园附近大地开始猛烈摇动。 

At the time there was a rumbling sound, something like a huge truck would make. 同时，大地发出如同重型卡车发出的轰响。 

Both the heaving of the ground and the noise were very frightening but lasted not quite 45 seconds.大地的升降和啸叫都令人非常害怕，但是一切不超过45秒。 

2. What was even more frightening was the sound of huge boulders which began rolling down the steep mountain. 更令人害怕的是巨石开始从陡峭的山上滚下来的声音。

In one part of the upper reaches of the Madison River, a whole mountain began shifting, then came crashing down to fill the deep valley and dam the great river with millions of tons of rock and trees.在麦迪生河上游的一条支流处，一整座山开始移动，之后，它崩塌下来填满深深的山谷，上百万吨岩石和大树如坝般阻挡住大河。 

3. A dozen or more campers along the river were buried deep beneath the great landslide. 十几个，或许更多沿河的露营者被深埋在大滑坡下。

Others were able to climb to safety,some of them badly hurt,but were trapped by the slide. 幸存的野营者开始爬向较安全的地方，其中一些人伤得很重，仍然不时陷入滑坡。

Finally these people were saved,many of them by helicopter.最后这些人都获救了，其中多人得救于直升飞机。 

4. This earthquake near Yellowstone Park was just one of nearly a million that happen every year all over the world. 在黄石公园附近发生的地震，仅仅是每年全世界发生的上百万次地震中的一次。 

And as bad as this quake was,many have been worse. 若就地震灾害而论，有许多地震甚至更严重。 

Earthquake experts say that the Yellowstone quake of 1959 was about as bad as the one which hit San Francisco in 1906. 地震专家说，1959年的黄石的地震，差不多相当于1906年发生在旧金山的地震。

But the San Francisco quake caused more damage because it struck in a place where there were so many people living. 旧金山地震造成更多的破坏，它发生在人口密集地方。 

In San Francisco 700 person lost their lives. 在旧金山约700人丧命。

An earthquake in Japan in 1923 took 160,000 lives. 1923年发生在日本的地震夺走了16万人的生命。

In China in 1920 an earthquake took 200,000 lives. 1920年一场大地震发生在中国，20万人死亡。

It is easy to understand why earthquakes are so feared.因此，很容易理解人们为什么非常恐惧地震。 

5. What causes these terrible shakes of the very ground on which we live?是什么原因造成我们生活的这块土地发生可怕的摇动？

6. To answer that question we must first understand some things about the earth itself. 要回答这个问题，必须首先要了解关于地球自身的某些事物。

Forty miles deep in the earth is the edge of the outer crust of the earth,and there it is so hot that instead of hard rock there is material much like the hot lava that a volcano erupts. 地表面下40英里深，是地球外壳的边缘，此处非常之热，如同火山喷出的岩浆般的物质替代了坚硬的岩石。 

It is the earth's 40 mile deep crust with which we are concerned when we seek the cause of earthquake. 若我们寻求地震的原因，这40英里地壳恰恰是我们应该关心的地带。

The earth's crust is formed of many different layers of rocks. 地壳由很多不同岩石层构成。

The layers of rocks are not laid evenly,as a bricklayer would build a wall. 而岩层并不像建筑工人建的墙一样均匀地平整铺开， 

Instead,the earth's crust is made of rock layers that are often uneven and not perfectly balanced.相反的，岩层构成的地壳也往往是不均匀且不是完美平衡的。

Because of the great weight pressing down on them,these layers tend to fold downward at weak spots,and this finally causes an actual break in the crust. 由于巨大重量向下压岩层，使它趋于在它的薄弱点处往下折叠，这最后将造成地壳里的某处断裂。

When this break occurs,or when the sides of an old break slip,the earth quakes,or shakes,while the crust is settling into a new position.当断裂发生时，或者旧的断裂块滑动时，地球震动、摇动，以使地壳安排它进入一个新位置。 

7. Sometime these faults are very small,and we then feel only little tremor. 有些时候这些断裂非常小，我们仅仅能感到微小的颤动。

The tremor may even be so light that only the most delicate machine will record it. 这种颤动甚至轻到最精密的设备才可能记录它们。 

Most earthquakes are of this weak kind. 大多数地震属于这种类型。

Sometimes a break in the earth's crust comes about,which starts such a landslide as the one which occurred in Madison Canyon. 也有些时候地壳的一个断裂发生了，引起如同在麦迪生峡谷发生的大滑坡。  

It then takes not one,but many shakes for the earth to heal the fault and settle.这种大地震往往不是一次，而是很多次的移动，使地球去修补裂缝和调整（岩层的）姿态。

That is why many after-shocks follow a major earthquake.这就是为什么很多余震紧跟在一个大地震之后。

Sometimes these go on for several years.有时这种情况要持续多年。 

8. Some Parts of the earth are more likely to have quakes than others.地球的某部分比其它部分更容易发生地震。

This is usually true of mountainous country,because there the layers of rocks which make up the earth's crust are not at all even. 山地国家往往这样。山地区域构成地壳的岩层特别不均匀。  

But quakes may often be felt in level country,too,because the waves which come from the center of a quake run often for thousands of miles.但是，平原国家也会经常感觉到地震，因为从震源发出的震波往往可以传出上千里。 

9. It is easy to understand why man is so frightened by an earthquake. 很容易理解为什么人特别害怕地震。

People used to think that when there was an earthquake,the ground opened,swallowed great numbers of people,and then closed,leaving no trace of those who perished. 人们过去认为，当某个地方发生了地震，即大地裂开，吞下大量的人，然后又合上，人们被不留痕迹地毁灭。

We know now this does not happen.现在我们知道这一切从来不曾发生。

10. What we need to fear most are the after-effects of a bad earthquake: fires,flood,and landslides. 实际上我们需要更多担心的是一个大地震的震后影响：火灾、洪水、和滑坡。 

Since the Yellowstone earthquake some people have said that they would never go to that area for fear of being caught in a landslide such as occurred after the earthquake. 自从黄石地震后，一些人说，他们因为害怕被发生在地震后的大滑坡伤害，再也不会去那个地方。

That is foolish. 这是愚蠢的。 

Such a fear would keep us away from mountains the rest of our lives. Even though earthquakes happen every day,an occurrence like the Madison River landslide does not happen very often. (04)这种恐惧将使我们终生远离大山。尽管地震每天都在发生，像麦迪生河大滑坡似的事件却不是经常发生。 

We can realize gratefully that few of us will suffer because of such disaster. 我们能够意识到，只有我们中的极少数可能受到地震灾害的伤害。 

At the same time we can understand the need of being ready to help those who do suffer such trouble.同时，我们也能理解，遭受那种灾害伤害的人正需要其它人的帮助。