【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 ce ran out of the fi el ds looki ng for pl aces to hi de. fi sh jumped out of thei r bowl s and ponds. At about 3: 00am on July 28, 1976, som e peopl e saw bri ght li ghts in the sky. The sound of the pl anes coul d be heard outsi de the ci ty, who thought l i tl e of these events, were asl eep as usual that ni ght. At3: 42 am everything began to shake. It seem ed as i f the worl d was at an end!El even kil ometres di rectly bel ow the ci ty the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was fel t i n Bei ji ng, whi ch i s more thantwo hundred kil om etres away. O nethi rd of the nati on fel t it . A huge crack that was ei ght kil ometres l ong and thi rty m etres wi de cut across houses, roads and canal s. Steam burst from hol es i n the ground. H ard hi l s of rock becam e ri vers of dirt. In fi fteen terri bl e seconds a l arge l ay in rui ns. The sufferi ng of the peopl e was extrem e. Towth i rds of them di ed or were i njured duri ng the earthquake. Thounds of fami li es were kil l ed and m any chi dren were l eft wi thout parents. The num ber of peopl e who were ki l ed or i njured reached m ore than 400, 000. But how coul d the survi vors beli eve it was natural?Everywhere they looked nearl y everything was destroyed. Al l of the city’s hospital s,75%of its factories and buil dings and 90% of i ts hom es were gone. Bricks covered the ground li ke red autum n l eaves. N o wi nd, however, coul d bel ow they away. Two dam s and most of the bri dges al so fel or were not safe for travel i ng. The rail way tracks were now usel es pi eces of steel . Tens of thousands of cows woul d never gi ve mi lk agai n. H al f a m il li on pi gs and m il li ons of chi ckens were dead. Sand now fil ed the wel s i nstead of water. Peopl e were shocked. Then l ater that afternoon,another big quake whi ch was al m ost as strong as the fi rst one shok Tangshan. Som e of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the rui ns. More buil dings fel down. Water, food, and el etri ci ty were hard to get. People began to wongder how l ong the di sater woul d last. Al hope was not l ost. Soon after the quakes, the arm y sent 150, 000 sol i ders to Tangshan to hel p the rescue workers. H undreds of thousands of peopl e were hel ped. The arm y ani zed teams to di g out those were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the ci ty, m ost of the 10, 000 m iners were rescued from the coal mi nes there. Workers buil t shel ters for survi vors whose hom es had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the ci ty by trai n,truck and pl ane. Sl owl y, the ci ty began to breathe again. A SAFE HOME It i s sad but that peopl e die i n earthquakes from fal li ng furni ture and bricks. Earthquake safety i s very im portant and there i s m ore to it than just keepi ng bui ldi ngs from fal li ng down. So i f your hom e is i n an earthquake area, you shoul d prepare careful y before the earthquake es. Fi rst, m ake sure you buy a house which i s earthquake safe. Al pi pes shoul d be fi xed to the wal and al wal l s shoul d be especi al ly thi ck and strong. You al so have to m ake sure that there are bol ts underneath your house. They are one of the m ost i mportant ways of protecti ng a house. Make sure the buil ding has no breaken wi ndows and i s wel l repai red. Second ,l ook at the objects in your house. Those i n the li ving rom, whi ch are the most li kel y to hurt us, are puters, tel evi si ons and l am ps. They can be ti ed to tabl es or them so they won’t easily move around. The kitchen, which is al so very dangerous, must have strong doors on al the cupboards. Thi s i s the pl ace where m any sm al thi ngs are stored that mi ght fal down. The water heater shoul d have a case round i t too. Wi ndows are speci al probl em. When they break, glass can cause m any acci dents,. It i s better to use safety gl ass i f you can, especial y for pi ctures. Al ways remember:” It is better to be safe than sorry. ” TH E STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS By Jack London N ever before i n hi story has a city ben so pl etel y destroyed. San Franci sco i s gone. Nothing i s l eft of i t but mem ori es and som e houses far from the centre of the ci ty. Its buni nes are gone. The factori es, hotelsand pal ace are al l gone too. Wi thin an hour after the earthquake, the smoke of SanFrancio’s fires coul d been seen 160 kil ometres away. The sun is red in the dark sky. There was no stoppi ng the fi res. There was no way to anize or m unicate. The steel rail way tracks were now usel es. And the great pi pes for carryi ng water under the streets had burst. Al of the ways m an had m ade to keep the ci ty safe were gone i n the thi rty second the earth m oved. O ut at sea i t was calm. N o wi nd cam e up. Yet from every directi oneast,weast,north,andsouth,strong winds blew upon the unl ucky city. Man himsel f had to make ruins of the city’s best buil dings so that they woul d not be a danger to those i n the streets. A l ist of bui l di ngs undesteryed was now onl y a few addreses. A l i st of the brave m en and the wom en woul d fil l a li brary. A li st of al those ki l ed wil l never be m ade. Am azi ng as i t m ay seem, Wednesday ni ght was a qui et ni ght. There were no crowds. The pol icem en sai dnothi ng。 even thei r horses were qui t. There were no shouts or peopl e doi ng crazy things. In al those terri bl e hours I saw not one wom an who cri ed, not one m an who was exci ted. Before the fi res, through the ni ght, thousands and thousands of peopl e who had l ost thei r hom es left for safety. Som e were covered i n bl ankets. Som etim es whol e fam il ies put everythi ng they owned and coul d save i nto wagons. They hel ped one another cl im b the hi gh hil l s around the ci ty. N ever in al l SanFrsncio’s histroy were her peopl e so kind as on that terrible night. Unit 5 Elias’ story My nam e i s El ias. I am a poor wo