【正文】 hil ls of rock becam e ri vers of di rt. In fi fteen terri bl e seconds a l arge l ay i n rui ns. The sufferi ng of the peopl e was extrem e. Towthi rds of them di ed or were i njured duri ng the earthquake. Thounds of fami li es were kil l ed and many chi dren were l eft wi thout parents. The num ber of peopl e who were ki l ed or i njured reached more than 400, 000. But how coul d the survivors bel ieve it was natural ?Everywhere they l ooked nearl y everything was destroyed. Al of the city’s hospi tal s, 75% of i ts factori es and bui l di ngs and 90% of its hom es were gone. Bri cks 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 m ost of the bri dges also fel or were not safe for travel i ng. The rail way tracks were now useless pi eces of stel. Tens of thousands of cows woul d never gi ve m il k agai n. H al f a mi l i on pi gs and mi l i ons of chi ckens were dead. Sand now fi ll ed the wel s i nstead of water. Peopl e were shocked. Then l ater that afternoon, another bi g quake whi ch was alm ost as strong as the fi rst one shook Tangshan. Som e of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the rui ns. More buil di ngs fel down. Water, food, and el etri ci ty were hard to get. Peopl e began to wongder how l ong the di sater woul d l ast. Al l hope was not l ost. Soon after the quakes, the army sent 150, 000 soli ders to Tangshan to hel p the rescue workers. H undreds of thousands of peopl e were hel ped. The arm y anized teams to dig out those were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10, 000 mi ners were rescued from the coal m i nes there. Workers buil t shelters for survi vors whose hom es had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the ci ty by train, truck and pl ane. Sl owl y, the ci ty began to breathe agai n. A SAFE HOME It i s sad but that peopl e di e i n earthquakes from fal i ng furni ture and bri cks. Earthquake safety i s very im portant and there i s m ore to i t than just keepi ng buil dings from fal li ng down. So i f your hom e i s i n an earthquake area, you shoul d prepare careful l y before the earthquake es. Fi rst, m ake sure you buy a house whi ch i s earthquake safe. Al pi pes shoul d be fi xed to the wal l and al wal ls shoul d be especial y thi ck and strong. You al so have to make sure that there are bol ts underneath your house. They are one of the m ost im portant ways of protecting a house. Make sure the bui l di ng has no breaken wi ndows and i s wel repai red. Second ,l ook at the objects i n your house. Those i n the li vi ng room, which are the m ost l i kel y to hurt us, are puters, televi si ons and l am ps. They can be tied to tabl es or them so they won’t easil y m ove around. The kitchen, which is al so very dangerous, m ust have strong doors on al l the cupboards. Thi s is the pl ace where m any sm al l things are stored that mi ght fal l down. The water heater shoul d have a case round i t too. Wi ndows are speci al probl em . When they break, gl ass can cause m any acci dents, . It i s beter to use safety gl ass i f you can, especi al l y for pictures. Al ways rem em ber:” It is better to be safe than sorry. ” TH E STORY OF AN EYEWITN ESS By Jack London N ever before in hi story has a ci ty been so pl etel y destroyed. San Franci sco i s gone. N othi ng is l eft of i t but m em ori es and some houses far from the centre of the ci ty. Its buni ness are gone. The factori es, hotel sand pal ace are al l gone too. Wi thi n an hour after the earthquake, the sm oke of SanFrancio’s fires coul d been seen 160 kil om etres away. The sun is red in the dark sky. There was no stopping the fi res. There was no way to ani ze or m uni cate. The steel rai l way tracks were now usel ess. 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 di recti oneast, weast, north, andsouth,strong winds bl ew upon the unl ucky city. Man him sel f had to m ake ruins of the city’s best buil dings so that they woul d not be a danger to those i n the streets. A li st of buil di ngs undesteryed was now onl y a few addresses. A li st of the brave m en and the wom en woul d fil l a li brary. A li st of al those kil l ed wil never be m ade. Am azi ng as i t m ay seem, Wednesday night was a qui et ni ght. There were no crowds. The poli cem en sai dnothing。 when thi s was not al l owed… onl y then di d we deci de to answer vi ol ence wi th viol ence. ” As a m atter of fact, I do not l i ke vi ol ence… but in 1963 I hel ped him bl ow up som e governm ent buil dings. It was very dangerous because i f I was caught I coul d be put i n prison. But I was very happy to hel p because I knew i t woul d hel p us achi eve our dream of m aki ng bl ack and whi te peopl e equal. The rest of Eli as’ story You cannot im agi ne how the nam e of Robben Isl and m ade us afrai d. It was a prison from whi ch no one escaped. There I spent the hardest tim e of m y li fe. But when I got there N el son Mandel a was al so there and he hel ped m e. Mr Mandel a began a schol for those of us who had li ttl e l earni ng. We read books under our bl ankets and used anythi ng we coul d find to m ake candl es to se the words. I becam e a good student. I wanted to study for degre but I was not al lowed to do that. Later, Mr Mandel a al owed the pri son guards to joi n us. H e sai d they shoul d not be stopped from studyi ng for thei r degrees. They were not cl everer than m e, but they di d pass thei r exams. So I knew I coul d get a degree too. That made me feel good about myself. When I fi nished the four years in pri son, I went to fi nd a job. Since I was better educated, I got a job working i n an office. However, the poli ce found out and