新视野大学英语视听说教程第四册 Unit 3 Task1: Description of a Tsunami
A strange hissing noise filled the air, said witnesses to the disaster, and that was followed by an ear-shattering roar. Racing toward the shore at speed of 450 kilometers per hour was a vast black wall of water more than 20 meters high.
For sunbathers on the beaches and diners at outdoor beachfront cafes there was no escape. Along with fishing boats, automobiles, trams, trains, early-morning shoppers and beachbungalows they were smashed to the ground and swept as far as two kilometers inland by the force of the tsunami that came after a force 9 earthquake deep under the sea off the coast of Sumatra.
Many local residents, including numerous children, rushed onto the beach to pick up fish thrownashore by the first giant wave. Before they could return to safety, a second powerful wave struck and swept them to their deaths at sea.
When the worst of the waters finally retreated back into the ocean, bodies lay everywhere, and many hung from trees. At least 140,000 people died in the flooding around the rim of the Indian Ocean and as far away as Kenya and Somalia. Still missing are more than a thousand people, among then 200 Indonesian fishmen.
Hundreds of fishing village in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand are cut off from supplies of clean water, food and medicines. Relief efforts from across the globe are rushing towards the disaster area. Whether they will be able to prevent further deaths from disease remain to be seen.
1. What happened after shoppers were smashed to the ground?
2. According to the passage, what happened after the first giant wave?
3. How many people are missing in the disaster?
4. What may follow immediately after the disaster, according to the passage?
5. What id the passage mainly about?
Keys: 1.A 2.C 3.B 4.D 5.A
