Unit 4 Natural Disasters 课文书写训练衡水体字帖-2024-2025学年高中英语人教版（2019）必修第一册

Unit4 Natural Disasters Be Happy!1 THE NIGHT THE EARTH DIDN'T SLEEP Strange things were happening in the countryside of northeastern Hebei. For several days,the water in the village wells rose and fell,rose and fell. There were deep cracks that appeared in the well walls. At least one well had some smelly gas coming out of it. Chickens and even pigs were too nervous to eat,and dogs refused to go inside buildings. Mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide,and fish jumped out of the water. At about 3:00 a.m., on 28 July 1976,bright lights were seen in the sky outside the city of Tangshan and loud noises were heard. But the city's one million people were asleep as usual that night. Unit4 Natural Disasters Be Happy!2 At 3:42 a.m.,everything began to shake. It seemed as if the world were coming to an end! Eleven kilometres directly below the city,one of the most deadly earthquakes of the 20th century had begun, a quake that even caused damage more than 150 kilometres away in Beijing. Nearly one third of the whole nation felt it! A huge crack, eight kilometres long and 30 metres wide, cut across houses, roads,and waterways. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. In less than one minute,a large city lay in ruins. Two thirds of the people who lived there were dead or injured. Thousands of children were left without parents. The number of people who were killed or badly injured in the quake was more than 400,000. Unit4 Natural Disasters Be Happy!3 Everywhere survivors looked,there was nothing but ruins. Nearly everything in the city was destroyed.About 75 percent of the city's factories and buildings,90 percent of its homes,and all of its hospitals were gone.Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves,but no wind could blow them away. Most bridges had fallen or were not safe to cross.The railway tracks were now useless pieces of metal.Tens of thousands of cows,hundreds of thousands of pigs,and millions of chickens were dead.Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were in shock,and then,later that afternoon,another big quake shook Tangshan again.Even more buildings fell down.Water,food,and electricity were hard to get.People began to wonder how long the disaster would last. Unit4 Natural Disasters Be Happy!4 But hope was not lost. Soon after the quakes,the army sent 150,000 soldiers to Tangshan to dig out those who were trapped and to bury the dead. More than 10,000 doctors and nurses came to provide medical care. Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people were helped. Water and food were brought into the city by train,truck,and plane. Slowly,the city began to breathe again. Unit4 Natural Disasters Be Happy!5 Tangshan started to revive itself and get back up on its feet. With strong support from the government and the tireless efforts of the city's people, a new Tangshan was built upon the earthquake ruins. The new city has become a home to more than seven million people,with great improvements in transportation,industry,and environment. Tangshan city has proved to China and the rest of the world that in times of disaster,people must unify and show the wisdom to stay positive and rebuild for a brighter future. Unit 4 Reading for Writing Be Happy!6 TSUNAMI HITS ASIA: OVER 6, 500 DEAD By Robert Woodhouse Monday, 27 December The most powerful earthquake in the past 40 years caused a tsunami that crashed into coastlines across Asia yesterday, killing more than 6,500 people in Indonesia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and at least four other countries. Fishermen, tourists, hotels, homes, and cars were swept away by huge waves caused by the strong earthquake that reached a magnitude of 9.0. The undersea quake struck around 7:00 a.m., Sunday off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island. In that area alone, at least 1,870 people were killed. Unit 4 Reading for Writing Be Happy!7 In Sri Lanka, some 1,600 kilometres west of the quake centre, the number of deaths stood at 2,498, and one million more were affected by the tsunami, government officials said. Indian officials said as many as 1,900 had been killed along the southern coast. Another 254 were found dead in Thailand and 54 in three other countries. In southern Thailand, 1,900 people were hurt and many more were missing, local officials said. "I was having breakfast with my three children when water started filling my home. We had to leave everything and run to safety," said Chandra Theeravit, a local Thai woman. Be Happy!8 Unit 4 Reading for Writing Thousands of people are still missing, and the number of deaths is expected to grow even higher over the next few days. Foreign aid is being organised for the tsunami-hit countries. However, dangerous conditions and damaged roads will make it difficult to deliver food and supplies.