Earthquakes

Earthquakes Last week, a terrible earthquake happened in Haiti. It made Alice and her friends think hard about it. They asked their science teacher, Mr. Guilton, a simple question, " What makes the earth shake?" Mr. Guilton explained it as simply as he could. He said, “ Inside of the earth, there are BIG pieces of rock that are slowly moving all of the time. When two big pieces hit each other, they make the earth shake. " Then, he told the class that many people all over the world live in fear of earthquakes. Long ago, people believed earthquakes were caused by many different things.

地震 上周，海地发生了一场可怕的地震。这让爱丽丝和她的朋友们仔细思考了一番。 他们问了科学老师吉尔顿先生一个简单的问题:“是什么使地球震动?” 吉尔顿先生尽可能简单地解释了这件事。他说:“在地球内部，有大块的岩石一直在缓慢移动。当两块大碎片相互撞击时，会使地球震动。 然后，他告诉全班同学，世界上许多人都生活在对地震的恐惧中。 很久以前，人们相信地震是由许多因素引起的不同的东西。

In India, people believed that the earth was held up by four elephants. The elephants stood on a turtle. The turtle stood on a snake. If one of these animals moved, the earth would shake. In Africa, people believed the earth was held up by a giant. When the giant stopped to give his wife a hug, the earth would shake, causing an earthquake. Today, we know the true cause of earthquakes. But that doesn't make them any less scary or dangerous.

在印度，人们相信地球是由四只大象支撑起来的。大象们站在一只乌龟上。乌龟站在一条蛇上。如果这些动物中的任何一个移动，地球就会震动。 在非洲，人们相信地球被一股气流支撑着巨人。当巨人停下来拥抱他的妻子时，地球会震动，引起地震。 今天，我们知道了地震的真正原因。但这并不能减少它们的恐怖和危险。