Having lived in California until 1970, my family has felt a number of earthquakes. We have been fortunate, however, to have suffered no bodily harm or property damage.
There is a website that lists all California earthquakes recorded from 1769 to the present. The site lists the dates and times as well as the magnitude (震级) and the exact location of any quake that measured more than 6. 0. There are only a few quakes that stand out in my memory and, luckily, none is shown in the website. So, my personal experience with earthquakes might be considered insignificant.
There are three earthquakes that are difficult to forget. The first one was in 1955 and our oldest daughter was walking with me in our backyard in Redwood City in California. As the shaking became stronger I held her to me with one arm as I held on to one of our fruit trees with the other. All three of us (my daughter, I and the tree) shook for two or three minutes that to us felt like hours.
The second one was in 1963. Our entire family was visiting Disneyland in Southern California. The earth started to shake just as we were beginning to walk from our hotel toward the famous landmark.
My third experience with an earthquake was a lonely one in California. It was in my sixties and I was alone in an old church. As the building started to shake, I quickly headed for the door to go outside. I remember I said a little prayer—something like, "Help me get out of here in time, Dear Heavenly Father". Minutes later, I was safe outside.
It's a good idea for families to talk about what they would do to escape a fire. You'll want to know how to escape from a fire, so let's start here.
An escape plan can help every member of a family get out of a burning house. The idea is to get outside quickly and safely. Smoke from a fire can make it hard to see where things are, so it's important to learn and remember the different ways out of your home. If you live in an apartment building, you'll want to know the best way to the stair or other emergency exits. If you're in a room with the door closed when the fire breaks out, you need to take a few extra steps:
Check to see if there's heat or smoke coming in the cracks (裂缝) around the door.
If you don't see smoke—touch the door. If the door is hot or very warm—don't open the door!
If you don't see smoke and the door is not hot—then use your fingers to lightly touch the doorknob (门把手). If the doorknob is hot or very warm—don't open the door!
If the doorknob feels cool, and you can't see any smoke around the door, you can open the door very carefully and slowly. When you open the door, if you feel a burst of heat, or smoke pours into the room, quickly shut the door and make sure it is really closed. If there's no smoke or heat when you open the door, go toward your escape route exit.
Far from the land of Antarctica (南极洲), a huge shelf of ice meets the ocean. At the underside of the shelf there lives a small fish, the Antarctic cod (南极鳕).
For forty years scientists have been curious about that fish. How does it live where most fish would freeze to death?It must have some secrets. The Antarctic is not a comfortable place to work and research has been slow. Now it seems we have an answer.
Research was begun by cutting holes in the ice and catching the fish. Scientists studied the fish's blood and measured its freezing point.
The fish were taken from seawater that had a temperature of -1. 88℃ and many tiny pieces of ice floating in it. The blood of the fish did not begin to freeze until its temperature was lowered to -2. 05℃. That small difference is enough for the fish to live at the freezing temperature of the ice-salt mixture.
The scientists' next research job was clear:Find out what in the fish's blood kept it from freezing. Their search led to some really strange thing made up of a protein (蛋白质) never before seen in the blood of a fish. When it was removed, the blood froze at seawater temperature. When it was put back, the blood again had its antifreeze quality and a lowered freezing point.
Study showed that it is an unusual kind of protein. It has many small sugar molecules (分子) held in special positions within each big protein molecule. Because of its sugar content, it is called a glycoprotein. So it has come to be called the antifreeze fish glycoprotein.
When I was in medical college, I went camping with some of my friends. The season was summer;therefore, we chose to go to the seaside. After arriving there, we rented a room and left our luggage there. We finished lunch and then decided to rent a boat because the sea and the weather were beautiful.
We started to row, but about one mile out, the weather suddenly changed. Although the weather was not good, we didn't want to give up. But finally my friends and I agreed that we should go back. We tried to change the boat's direction, but as soon as we changed it, the oarlock(桨架) broke. Therefore, we were unable to turn back. We had to wait for help because we couldn't do anything.
After seeing the change of weather, we shouldn't have continued to row, but it was too late. We regretted it. The sea changed a lot, the waves got very high, and the boat began to shake like a cradle. One of my friends started to cry; another started to vomit. Three hours passed, but nobody came to help us. We were just praying.
Fortunately, after five long hours of waiting, two big boats came to rescue us and we escaped. If they hadn't come to get us, we would have crossed the border between Turkey and Greece because the border was very close.
This story is the most exciting story of my life because we could have died, but luck was with us and we escaped.
In China, safety education is becoming more and more important now. The last Monday in March is for students to learn it at school. What are the accidents at school?
Stampedes (踩踏), earthquakes and fires are the main accidents at school.
A stampede always happens in crowded places. If you fall down in the crowd, move to one side and protect your head with your hands around.
When earthquakes happen, you can get under a desk quickly and hold on. If you are outdoors, find a place away from buildings, trees, and power lines.
When there's a fire, leave the classroom quickly. It's better to put something wet over your mouth and nose. In this way, you won't breathe in smoke. It makes them cough and they can't breathe. That's very dangerous! So when you want to get out, you should make yourself close to the floor. Then you can breathe some fresh air.
A. Here is an example.
B. It helps students learn more about what they should do to keep themselves safe.
C. When students around you begin to push, just stand there and try to hold onto something.
D. Many people die in a fire, not because of the fire but smoke.
E. It is not smoke but fire that is dangerous.
F. Take a look.
G. It'll protect you from falling things.
Bobby, a poor guy was famous for his tries to climb the big snowy mountain. He had tried at least 30 times, but had always 1. Every time, he began the climbing at a good pace. But as he went on, he would look down at his painful 2 more often. Finally when the clouds had gathered round him, he understood that he wouldn't be able to enjoy the view from the top.
Last month, he went up the 3 with Peeper, who gave him a pair of special sunglasses. "If it starts clouding over, put these 4 on, or if your feet start hurting, put them on too. These are special glasses; they will help you. "Bobby 5 the gift without thinking much, but when his feet started 6 again, he remembered what Peeper had said and he put on the glasses. The pain was pretty bad, but with those new sunglasses he could still manage to continue. This time the 7 were so light that he could still see the top through them. And so Bobby kept climbing, leaving the clouds behind, forgetting his 8, and finally arriving at the top. It was certainly worth it.
Peeper had drawn a light 9 on the lenses (镜片), in the form of the snow-covered mountain top. It was made in such a way that you could only 10 it if you looked upwards. Peeper had understood that whenever Bobby lost sight of his 11, he would similarly lose sight of his dream, and his 12 to continue would weaken.
Bobby realized that the only difficulty of reaching the top had been his own 13. When he could no longer see the top of the mountain, the problems 14. He thanked Peeper for using that little 15 to help him see that his aims were not impossible, and that they were still there, where they had always been.
It is sad but true that some people die in earthquakes from (fall) furniture and bricks. Earthquake (safe) is very important and there is more to it just keeping buildings from falling down. So if your home is in earthquake area, you should prepare carefully before the earthquake (come). First, make sure you buy a house which is earthquake safe. All pipes should (fix) to the walls and all walls should be (especial) thick and strong. Make sure the building has no (break) windows and is well repaired. Second, look at the objects in your house. Objects like computers, televisions and lamps can be tied to tables or (stick) to them so they won't easily move around. The cupboards, many small things are stored, should have strong doors. Always remember, it is better to be safe than sorry.
On a Friday night, a poor young artist stood at the gate of the New York railway station, playing his violin. The music was so excellent that many people stopped to put some money into the hat of the young man.
The next day, the young artist came to the same place, and put his hat on the ground gracefully. Differently from the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it under his hat. Then he began to play the violin. It sounded more pleasant than ever.
Soon he was surrounded with people who were attracted by the words on the paper. It said, "Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an important thing into my hat by mistake. Please come to claim (认领) it soon. "
After about half an hour, a middle-aged man rushed through the crowd to the violinist and said, "Yes, it's you. I knew that you were an honest man and would certainly come here. " The young violinist asked calmly, "Are you Mr George Sang?" The man nodded. The violinist asked, "Did you lose something?" "It's a lottery ticket, " said the man.
The violinist took out a lottery ticket on which George Sang's name was seen. "Is this it?" he asked. George nodded and took the lottery ticket and kissed it.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。
"I can't thank you enough for being here.
"I was about to leave this morning to Vienna to attend advanced studies.
