20100622 Mount Vesuvius (2)

Mount Vesuvius

The eruption
Days before the eruption, residents of Pompeii heard rumblings and experienced several minor earthquakes. Then a huge column of volcanic ash and cinders burst from the mountain and hovered over the area. Hours later the column fell to Earth, showering the city with 400-degree-Celsius ash, gas and debris. Nearly 19 hours after the eruption began, about 3 m of ash covered practically everything except the tops of Pompeii's highest buildings. In neighboring Herculaneum, a rushing stream of boiling mud covered the town, burying everything under 23 m of ash and mud. The massive volcanic eruption lasted nearly a day and left over 3,000 people dead.

A city frozen in time
The lost cities of Pompeii and Herculancum were forgotten until 1595 when excavations uncovered artifacts from Pompeii. Over a century later, archaeologists found the city almost perfectly preserved, including what remained of hundreds of bodies. The combination of volcanic ash, heat, mud and the rain that followed the eruption had buried Pompeii's citizens. Even after the bodies decayed, an imprint of amazing details was left behind in the hardened ash. Archaeologists discovered that by pouring plaster into the opening around a skeleton, a perfect form of the human at the moment of death was recealed.



rumbling n. 隆隆聲
=> make continous low and deep sound
eg: The sudden rumbling of thunder frightened the kids at the park.
=> 雷聲突然的隆隆聲嚇到了公園的小朋友。
eg: I could hear the rumbling of my own stomach, and it was so embarrassing.
=> 我都可以聽到我自己的肚子咕嚕咕嚕的聲音，真的是很糗。
eg: The loud rumbling of the race cars' engines signaled the start of the race.
=> 賽車們大聲的引擎作響聲代表比賽即將開始。

hover v. 盤旋/停留在空中
=> flow over the surface of something
eg: The vulture was hovering above the wounded antelope.
=> 禿鷹在受傷的羚羊之上盤旋著。
eg: Helicopters hovered in the sky trying to locate the fugitives.
=> 直昇機在空中盤旋試著找到逃犯的位置。

im- 進入
imprint n. 印痕/痕跡
=> leave a mark
eg: The preschool students left imprints of their hands on the garden's cement floor.
=> 育幼院的學生在花園中的水泥地留下了他們的手印。
eg: The accident left an imprint of terror in her mind.
=> 這場意外在她的心中留下了恐懼的痕跡。


column n. 圓柱
volcanic ash 火山灰
cinder n. 爐渣/溶渣/火山渣

excavation n. 挖掘/開鑿
=> the event when you move dirt out the area


archaeologist n. 考古學家
=> people who find artifacts

plaster n. 熟石膏/燒石膏
=> a substance become hard when dried

hardened adj. 變硬的/根深蒂固的




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debris n. 殘骸/碎片
=> 單數名詞，沒有複數形，它的代名詞為it

marine debris
space debris