【英译汉】
Mount Vesuvius
A volcano's power, drawn from deep within the earth, is unleashed in different forms, from molten lava to thick clouds of burning gas to blazing rocks, falling from the sky. All over the world, people choose to make their homes in the path of nature's deadly power. Nowhere is the relationship between alluring scenery and terrifying danger more tenuous than in southern Italy - at the site of Mount Vesuvius, the world's most famous volcano.
Rising four thousand feet above the Bay of Naples, Mount Vesuvius looms above the Italian countryside, Today, millions live at its base. Every day these Italians accept the risk of living next to this ticking bomb. But Vesuvius' explosive potential wasn't always evident to those who lived nearby.
Vesuvius was not really known to be an active volcano by the Romans at first. They had no real history of its volcanic activity. In early August, 79AD, sporadic tremors rocked the Campanian plains. Wells dried up and water disappeared from streams. These were all signs that gas pressure was growing inside the volcano. Then, at about one P. M. on August 24th, the floor of the crater cracked, and Mount Vesuvius roared to life. The earliest fatalities from the eruption were probably because of people being hit by rocks and also by being buried under roof collapses. Around midnight, the eruption column collapsed, behaving like a fountain of ash and pumice, and cascading down at a very high speed and flowing like an avalanche of snow, but in this case a very hot avalanche of hot ash. This pyroclastic flow(火山灰流) is a volcano's most lethal weapon. As many as twenty thousand people perished in the eruption.
Then the volcano erupted again in 4.72 AD and then in 1631.More eruptions were recorded in the 18th and 19th centuries. On March 13th, 1944, an explosion inside the vent caused rocks and boulders to fall into the cone, completely closing the vent, Lava and gases were now trapped and the pressure inside was building. An eruption was now more likely than ever.
At 4: 30 PM on March 18th, a powerful explosion within Mount Vesuvius drove lava over the crater's rim. Wide strips of liquid fire burned on the slopes of the mountain. The lava is practically molten rocks that flow along the flank of the volcano like a river. The eruption of 1944 claimed twenty-six lives. Thousands of people were evacuated. The entire countryside was a barren wasteland.
Today, Mount Vesuvius has been calm for more than fifty years. During this period, magma has been sitting in its reservoir, undergoing chemical changes - a process that could lead to another eruption. The longer the magma sits around in the reservoir and stews in there and differentiates or evolves, the greater the potential of a large, catastrophic eruption. We are not sure when it will happen next time, but we do know that after long periods of rest, the next eruption will be devastating. Some believe the disaster could be even greater than the one that occurred in 79AD. The high population density does not help matters, as a string of towns and villages circle the slopes of the volcano bringing the population to over a half million people. But to those who live at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, this is the power of nature and it help us get a better understanding of our position on planet Earth.
【参考译文】
维苏威火山
火山的威力来自地球深处，并以各种形式释放——从滚滚的熔岩，到气体燃烧产生的浓烟，到从空中坠落的燃烧的岩石。在世界各地，都有人选择在大自然致命威力的必经之地安家落户。最能体现诱人的风景和可怕的危险之间的微妙关系的，要数意大利南部的维苏威火山——世界上最有名的火山。
维苏威火山耸立在那不勒斯海湾边，高4000英尺，地处意大利乡间。今天，有数百万人住在山脚下。这些意大利人每天都冒着风险与这枚滴答作响的定时炸弹为伴。但是这些住在火山附近的人并非总能看清维苏威火山喷发的前兆。
起初，古罗马人并不知道维苏威火山是座活火山，因为他们没有关于火山活动的历史记载。公元79年8月初，坎帕尼亚平原不时震颤，井水干涸，溪水断流。这些都是火山内部气压增强的征兆。接着，在8月24日下午约l点左右，火山口的岩面裂开，维苏威火山咆哮着苏醒了。火山喷发最初的遇难者很可能是因被飞岩击中身亡，或是被坍塌的屋顶压死。
午夜时分，火山喷柱突然崩溃，就像一道灰尘和浮石形成的喷泉，如同瀑布一样飞速落下，如同雪崩一般汹涌奔流，只不过这里崩泻的是灼热的灰尘。这种碎石流是火山最致命的武器。有两万人在这次火山喷发中丧生。
公元472年，火山再次喷发，然后是1631年，到了18、19世纪就更为频繁了。1944年3月13日，火山口内的一次爆炸使岩石落入火山锥中，完全堵住了气体出口。由于岩浆和气体被困，内部压力不断加强，火山爆发的可能性骤增。
3月18日下午4:30，维苏威火山内部的一次剧烈爆炸使岩浆喷出了火山口。山坡上到处是熊熊燃烧的熔岩。岩浆其实就是熔化的岩石，它就像河流一样沿山侧流下。1944年的维苏威火山爆发夺走了26条生命，成千上万的人被迫离开家园，整个乡间一片荒芜。
今天，维苏威火山已经沉寂了五十多年。在此期间，岩浆在地壳内发生着化学变化，可能会导致火山再次喷发。岩浆在地壳层中呆的时间越长，酝酿、变异、发展的时间越久，就越可能导致一场灾难性的大规模喷发。我们无法知道下一次喷发会是什么时候，但是有一点我们能肯定，那就是经过这么长时间的沉寂，下一次喷发一定极具破坏力。有些人认为它可能造成比公元79年的那次喷发更大的灾难。人口密度高也很不利，因为火山坡周围的城镇和乡村人口已超过了50方。但是那些住在维苏威火山脚下的人认为，火山爆发体现了大自然的威力，它能帮助我们更好地看清人类在地球上的位置。
