泽熙美文[问答题]1. Practice 1
How does an earthquake start?
What makes an earthquake happen? The rock of the earth’s crust (地壳) may have a “fault”, a kind of break in the surface. The blocks which make up the earth move, and sometimes this may cause the sides of the fault to move up and down or lengthways (纵向地) against each other. When one piece of rock starts to rub on another with great force, a lot of energy is used. This energy is changed into vibrations (振动) and it is these vibrations that we feel as an earthquake. The vibrations can travel thousands of kilometers and so an earthquake in Turkey may be felt in Greece.
What to do during an earthquake?
At school
As soon as the earthquake starts, students should get under the desks immediately and wait until the teacher tells them it is safe to come out. The teacher should, at the same time, go immediately to the teacher’s desk, get underneath (在……下面) it and stay there till the danger is over. Students must not argue with the teacher or question instructions.
As soon as the tremors (震动) stop, all students should walk towards the exit and go straight to the school playground or any open space such as a square or a park. They must wait there until the teacher tells them it is sale to go.
At home
If you are at home when the earthquake occurs, get immediately under the table in the living room or kitchen. Choose the biggest and strongest table you can find. You must not go anywhere near the window and don’t go out onto the balcony (阳台). Once the tremors have stopped, you can come out from under the table, but you must leave the building straight away. You should walk down the stairs and should not use the lift—there may be a power cut as a result of the earthquake and you could find yourself trapped inside the lift for hours.
In the street
If you are in the street when the earthquake takes place, do not stand near buildings, fences or walls—move away as quickly as possible and try to find a large open space to wait in. Standing under trees could also be dangerous.
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[问答题]2. Practice 2
The object of this essay is to assert one very simple principle as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control, whether the means used be physical force in the form of legal penalties, or the moral coercion of public opinion. That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind is warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, but not for compelling him, or visiting him with any evil in case he do otherwise. To justify that, the conduct from which it is desired to deter him must be calculated to produce evil to someone else. The only part of the conduct for anyone, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his dependence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.
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[问答题]3. Practice 3
Equity securities are known as shares (or stock) in a corporation. Stockholders are considered owners of the corporation. The Articles of Incorporation must state the number of shares and the characteristics of the stock. To issue stock is actually to offer shares of stock for sale. The corporation’s Board of Directors controls when and to whom the corporation’s shares are offered and sold.
Outstanding shares—Outstanding shares are shares already issued and purchased by the shareholder or stockholder.
Par value—Par value is an arbitrary value assigned to each share in the Articles of Incorporation but does not necessarily reflect the true market value of the stock. Shares may not be issued and sold by the corporation for less than their par value therefore it is sometimes advisable not to state any par value at all or state a par value lower than the estimated market price. No par value allows the Board of Directors to decide each time shares are issued what the price per share will be. In a very large corporation where the stock is publicly traded at a public exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange, the public demand for the stock of the corporation rather than the Board of Directors determines the selling price of the stock.
Capital account—The capital account of a corporation is an entry in the books of the corporation and is determined by multiplying the par or stated value of the corporation’s stock by the number of shares outstanding. For example, if the corporation had sold 1,000 shares of stock which had $10 par value, the capital account would be $10,000.
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[问答题]4. Practice 4
As I mentioned last week, I’ve recently returned from Australia. While I was there, I visited a eucalyptus forest that, in February, was the scene of an appalling wildfire. Perhaps naively, I had expected to find that many trees had been killed. They hadn’t. They had blackened bark, but were otherwise looking rather well, many of them wreathed in new young leaves. This prompted me to consider fire and the role it plays as a force of nature.
Fossil charcoals tell us that wildfires have been part of life on Earth for as long as there have been plants on land. That’s more than 400 million years of fire. Fire was here long before arriviste plants like grasses; it pre-dated the first flowers. And without wanting to get mystical about it, fire is, in many respects, a kind of animal, albeit an ethereal one. Like any animal, it consumes oxygen. Like a sheep or a slug, it eats plants. But unlike a normal animal, it’s a shape-shifter. Sometimes, it merely nibbles a few leaves; sometimes it kills grown trees. Sometimes it is more deadly and destructive than a swarm of locusts.
The shape-shifting nature of fire makes it hard to study, for it is not a single entity. Some fires are infernally hot; others, relatively cool. Some stay at ground level; others climb trees. Moreover, fire is much more likely to appear in some parts of the world than in others. Satellite images of the Earth show that wildfires are rare in, say, northern Europe, and common in parts of central Africa and Australia. (These days many wildfires are started by humans, either on purpose or by accident. But long before our ancestors began to throw torches or cigarette butts, fires were started by lightning strikes, or by sparks given off when rocks rub together in an avalanche.)
Once a fire gets started, many factors contribute to how it will behave. The weather obviously has a huge effect: winds can fan flames, rains can quench them. The lie of the land matters, too: fire runs uphill more readily than it goes down. But another crucial factor is what type of plants the fire has to eat.
It’s common knowledge that plants regularly exposed to fire tend to have features that help them cope with it—such as thick bark, or seeds that only grow after being exposed to intense heat or smoke. But what is less often remarked on is that the plants themselves affect the nature and severity of fire.
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[问答题]5. Practice 5
The large river best known to the ancient Greeks was the Nile of Egypt. They spoke of the river with admiration and called Egypt “the gift of the Nile”. The reason for this was, first, that the Nile brought water to a rainless desert and, second, that once a year, the river overflowed its banks, leaving, as the water went back, a new layer of fertile soil.
The flood waters carry in them soil (called silt) from the upper parts of the river valley to the lower parts, and so to the sea. But as the river meets the sea, the sea acts as a barrier and forces the river to drop the silt it is carrying.
There are no tides in the Mediterranean to carry the silt away, so
