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。