20100909 The Mud Volcanoes of Azerbaijan (1)

The Mud Volcanoes of Azerbaijan(亞塞拜然的泥火山)

Believe it or not, you can stick your hand into one of these volcanoes!

Volcanoes usually generate fear, and for good reason, since their eruptions have been known to wipe out entire towns and villages. The volcanoes found in Azerbaijan, however, inspire curiosity and even laughter. Filled with cool mud instead of red-hot magma, these mud volcanoes are much smaller than typical volcanoes, with most no more than four meters tall. Looks can be deceiving, however. Once every 20 years or so, these seemingly calm, mud-filled cones erupt forcefully, spewing tons of mud and rock fragments from deep underground.

These volcanoes occasionally put on a show like the Lok-Batan mud volcano did in 2001, when it shot a fireball hundreds of meters into the air. Azerbaijan boasts over 300 mud volcanoes, approximately half of all the mud volcanoes in the world. Many of them are located near the Caspian Sea, and some are actually underwater. Like all volcanoes, mud volcanoes provide a window into the geological processess occurring deep below the Earth's surface. In this case, the mud, rocks and flames that flow from the volcanoes are all evidence of Azerbaijan's rich deposits of oil and natural gas.

deceive v. 誤導/欺騙

=> trick

eg: The con man deceived everyone with his lies.

=> 這個騙子用謊言欺騙了每一個人。

deceive someone into doing something 誤導某人去作某事

eg: She deceived us into believing that she received a promotion at work.

=> 她誤導我們相信她工作升職了。

spew v. 湧出/噴出

=> flow out in large amount liquid

eg: Cars raced by spewing black exhaust fumes into the air.

=> 車輛呼嘯而過噴出黑煙到空氣中。

eg: The volcano spewed gas and dust just before it erupted.

=> 這座火山在它噴發了之前，噴出氣體和灰燼。

eg: Pages of the report spewed out from the computer printer.

=> 一頁又一頁的報告從印表機輸出。

frag- 破碎

fragment n. 碎片

=> a piece of something

eg: Fragments from the broken vase spread around the floor.

=> 破掉的花瓶碎片弄得滿地都是。

fragment n. 片段

eg: I can only remember fragments of the poem.

=> 我只記得這首詩的片段。

generate fear

=> cause fear to exist

magma n. 岩漿

= lava

=> liquid rock

put on a show

Azerbaijan boasts over 300 mud volcanoes

=> Azerbaijan is proud to have over 300 mud volcanoes.

Caspian Sea 裡海(位於前蘇聯與伊朗之間的內海)

geological adj. 地質學

geologic adj. 地質學上的/地質的

geology n. 地質學

//== Chat room ==//

Looks can be deceiving.

looks 外貌

good looks 美貌/好看的長相

=> looks都會用來表示好看的面貌

=> 但是我們不會說bad looks

good-looking adj. 好看的/漂亮的/美貌的

eg: a good-looking shirt

eg: a good-looking car

looker 美貌的人

eg: She's grown up to be a real looker. 女大18變

//== Grammar on the Go ==//

Volcanoes usually generate fear, and for good reason, since their eruptions have been know to wipe out entire towns and villages.

= Volcanoes usually generate fear, and this is obvious since their eruptions have been known to wipe out entire towns and villages.

for good reason

=> what was just mentioned is obvious

eg: Richard doesn't like that restaurant, and for good reason their service isn't very good.

eg: Kyle doesn't want to work with Susan -- and for good reason. He had a bad experience working with her before.