【英语时差8，16】滑坡

 You're hiking through the Rockies one day when you hear a low, ominous¹ rumble².   Landslide³! Hundreds of tons of rock and soil are careening toward you at enormous speed.

Fortunately, there's a helicopter nearby and you lift off just in time to escape unharmed. But now you notice something odd. After the landslide has gone by, in its tracks little dainty flowers are still standing⁴. Blades of grass are unbent. How is this possible?

Before we tell you the answer, here's another question. What happens when you drop a book flat onto a table?

If you try it, you'll see that the book doesn't hit the table unimpeded, but lands on a little cushion of compressed air. If you don't believe us, try putting some little pieces of paper on the table before dropping the book. The whoosh⁵ of compressed air escaping will blow them off.

That's the same phenomenon that happens with landslides⁶. When an enormous sheet of rocks and dirt gets moving, it acts like a solid object. It traps the air underneath⁷ it and actually rides downhill on a cushion of air. Strange as it may seem, much of the landslide never touches the ground at all.

Because the cushion of air stays underneath it, the rocks and dirt aren't slowed down by friction⁸ much and continue picking up speed as they fall. Large landslides have been clocked in excess of 100 miles an hour.

So -- could you just lie down and let the landslide whoosh over you? No, unless you are about the size of a blade of grass. People who are bigger than that should keep a helicopter handy.  

1 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

2 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

3 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 whoosh   

v.飞快地移动，呼

参考例句：

• It goes whoosh up and whoosh down.它呼一下上来了，呼一下又下去了。
• Whoosh!The straw house falls down.呼！稻草房子倒了。

6 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

7 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

8 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。