听播客学英语 116 顿马场地震

 　　The big news story this week was the great Market Rasen earthquake.

　　We have lots of earthquakes in Britain. There are about 200 every year, but most of them are so small that people do not notice them

　　The earthquake this week – in the early hours [ie between midnight and about 4am] of Wednesday morning – was different, however. It was of course, very small compared with earthquakes in other countries. But it was the biggest earthquake in Britain for 25 years, and people could feel it over a large part of England.

　　The epicentre of the earthquake was close to a small town in eastern England called Market Rasen. Very little happens in Market Rasen. It is famous for …well, it isn’t famous for anything really. There is a racecourse and a man who wrote the lyrics¹ for one of Michael Jackson’s songs once went to school there. Several web-sites tell me that Charles Dickens, the famous 19th century novelist², described Market Rasen as “the sleepiest town in England”. However, I can’t find where Charles Dickens said this, so I don’t know if it is true.

　　But everyone, and everywhere, can be world famous for 15 minutes. Market Rasen’s 15 minutes of fame was this week. On Wednesday, newspaper and TV reporters set to work to write the story of the great Market Rasen earthquake. Here are some of the things that they found :

　　teacups rattled³ in Bedfordshire;

　　toothpaste fell off a bathroom shelf in Halifax;

　　cupboard doors flew open in Tipton, near Birmingham;

　　a radio jumped up and down in London;

　　a glass of water rattled on a bedside table in Chester;

　　some chimneys⁴ were damaged in Yorkshire;

　　a piece of stone fell off the church at Market Rasen.

　　...and a glass of water rattled on a bedside table in Chester.

　　Photo by bram_app/flickr.

　　As you can see, there was no story for the journalists to find. No-one was killed; only 1 person was injured⁵; and damage to buildings was small. So why was the Market Rasen earthquake the big news story of the week?

　　I think it is because the earthquake was an experience which everyone shared. On Wednesday morning, everyone had a personal story to tell. Some people could say how they woke up in the night. Their houses shook, and they heard a deep rumbling⁶ sound. Some people knew immediately that it was an earthquake. Other people said that they were frightened because they did not know what had happened. Some people ran out of their houses to see what was happening. Other people stayed in bed and went back to sleep. And other people said that they had not woken up at all – they had slept straight through the earthquake. So, for a few hours on Wednesday morning, everyone in England could talk about the same thing.

　　When people try to describe something like an earthquake, they often use the expressions “it was like…” or “it was as if…”. I found these descriptions in the newspapers:

　　it was as if a giant was shaking my house;

　　it was like a bomb had exploded;

　　it was like a train very close to the house;

　　it was as if someone had hit the house;

　　it was like a plane had crashed;

　　it was like a heavy lorry⁷ passing the house;

　　it was as if a train was going under the house;

　　it was like there was a big animal on the roof.

　　Listen to English will be back next week with more important news stories.

1 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

2 novelist   

n.小说家

参考例句：

• He is really a fruitful novelist.他真是一位多产的小说家。
• A good novelist needs great power of conception.一个好的小说家需要丰富的想象力。

3 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

4 chimneys   

n.烟囱( chimney的名词复数 )；烟筒；（岩石间可供攀登的）狭孔；狭缝

参考例句：

• the silhouette of chimneys and towers 烟囱和塔楼的轮廓
• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys. 你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 injured   

adj.受伤的

参考例句：

• Our best defender is injured and won't be able to play today.我们最佳的防守员受伤了，今天不能参加比赛。
• The injured men have been dug out of the snow.受伤人员从雪中被挖了出来。

6 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

7 lorry   

n.（英）卡车；（=<美>truck）

参考例句：

• The old man was run down by a big lorry.那个老人被一辆大卡车撞倒了。
• A lorry ran down the hill out of control.卡车失去了控制，直往山下冲去。