高中英语 精华双语文章 年轻的科学 地震预测素材.docVIP

高中精华双语文章：年轻的科学——地震预测 5.12 大地震，日本3.11大地震......一次又一次的巨大灾难给人类带来了毁灭性地破坏，带走了多少人的生命。为了减小破坏，挽救人们的生命，科学家们正在致力于地震预测的研究。那么，地震真的可以预测吗？地震预测，虽是一门年轻的科学，科学家已经取得了一些成果。相信未来地震发生时，我们已经做好了抵御灾难的充分准备。 The Young Science--Earthquake Prediction 年轻的科学--地震预测 Can earthquakes be predicted? Scientists are working on programs to predict where and when an earthquake will occur. They hope to develop an early warning system that can be used to forecast earthquakes so that lives can be saved. 地震可以预报吗？科学家们正致力于研究预报何时何地会发生地震的计划，他们希望开发一种早期报警系统用来预报地震，以挽救人们的生命。 Earthquakes are the most dangerous and deadly or all natural events. They occur in many parts of the world. Giant earthquakes have been recorded in Iran, China, Guatemala, Chile, India, and Alaska. Two of the biggest earthquakes that were ever recorded took place in China and Alaska. These earthquakes measured about 8.5 on the Richter Scale. The Richter Scale was devised by Charles Richter in 1935, and compares the energy level of earthquakes. An earthquake that measures a 2 on the scale can be felt but causes little damage. One that measures 4.5 on the scale can cause slight damage, and an earthquake that has a reading of over 7 can cause major damage. It is important to note that a reading of 4 indicates an earthquake ten times as strong as one with a reading of 3. Scientists want to be able to predict those earthquakes that have a reading of over 4 on the Richter Scale. 地震是自然灾害中最危险的最致命的，发生在世界许多地方。伊朗、中国、危地马拉、智利、印度和阿拉斯加都有过大地震的记录。有记载的最大两次地震是发生在中国和阿拉斯加。这两次地震经测量约为里氏8.5级。里氏震级是1935年查尔斯·里克特发明的，用来比较地震的能量等级。里氏地震级测出的2级地震可以感觉到，但几乎没什么破坏；测出的4.5级地震能够造成轻微破坏，读数超过7级的地震会带来重大破坏。必须注意的是，读数为4级的地震表明其强度是读数为3级的10倍。科学家想预测那些读数超过里氏4级的地震。 How do earthquakes occur? Earthquakes are caused by the shifting of rocks along cracks, or faults, in the earths crust. The fault is produced when rocks near each other are pulled in different directions. The best-known fault in North America is the San Andreas fault in the state of California in the United States. 地震是怎么发生的呢？地震是由地壳中的裂缝，或