人教版高中英語(yǔ)必修一1-選修9課文翻譯-中英文對(duì)照

必修1 第一單元ANNES BEST FRIEND Do you want a friend whom you could tell everything to, like your deepest feelings and thoughts? Or are you afraid that your friend would laugh at you, or would not understand what you are going through? Anne Frank wanted the first kind, so she made her diary her best friend.安妮最好的朋友 你想不想有一位無(wú)話不談能推心置腹的朋友？或者你會(huì)不會(huì)擔(dān)心你的朋友會(huì)嘲笑你，會(huì)不理解你目前的困境呢？安妮?弗蘭克想要的是第一種類型的朋友，所以她把的日記視為自己最好的朋友。 Anne lived in Amsterdam in the Netherlands during World War II. Her family was Jewish so she had to hide or they would be caught by the German Nazis. She and her family hidden away for two years before they were discovered. During that time the only true friend was her diary. She said, “I dont want to set down a series of facts in a diary as most people do, but I want this diary itself to be my friend, and I shall call my friend Kitty.” Now read how she felt after being in the hiding place since July 1942.在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，安妮住在荷蘭的阿姆斯特丹。她一家人都是猶太人，所以他們不得不躲藏起來(lái)，否則就會(huì)被德國(guó)的納粹分子抓去。她和她的家人躲藏了25個(gè)月之后才被發(fā)現(xiàn)。在那段時(shí)期，她的日記成了她唯一忠實(shí)的朋友。她說(shuō)：“我不愿像大多數(shù)人那樣在日記中記流水賬。我要把我的日記當(dāng)作自己的朋友，我把我的這個(gè)朋友叫做基蒂?！爆F(xiàn)在，來(lái)看看安妮自1942年7月起躲進(jìn)藏身處后的那種心情吧。 Thursday 15, June, 1944Dear kitty, I wonder if its because I havent been able to be outdoors for so long that Ive grown so crazy about everything to do with nature. I can well remember that there was a time when a deep blue sky, the song of the birds, moonlight and flowers could never have kept me spellbound. Thats changed since I was here. For example, when it was so warm, I stayed awake on purpose until half past eleven one evening in order to have a good look at the moon for once by myself. But as the moon gave far too much light, I didnt dare open a window. Another time some months ago, I happened to be upstairs one evening when the window was open. I didnt go downstairs until the window had to be shut. The dark, rainy evening, the wind, the thundering clouds held me entirely in their power; it was the first time in a year and a half that Id seen the night face to face SadlyI am only able to look at nature through dirty curtains hanging before very dusty windows. Its no pleasure looking through these any longer because nature is one thing that really must be experienced. Yours, Anne1944年6月15日，星期四 親愛(ài)的基蒂： 我不知道這是不是因?yàn)槲姨脽o(wú)法出門的緣故，我變得對(duì)一切與大自然有關(guān)的事物都無(wú)比狂熱。我記得非常清楚，以前，湛藍(lán)的天空、鳥(niǎo)兒的歌唱、月光和鮮花，從未令我心迷神往過(guò)。自從我來(lái)到這里之后，這一切都變了。 比如說(shuō)，有一天晚上天氣很暖和，我故意熬到晚上11點(diǎn)半都不睡覺(jué)，為的就是能獨(dú)自好好地看看月亮。但是因?yàn)樵鹿馓亮?，我都不敢打開(kāi)窗戶。還有一次，就在五個(gè)月以前的一個(gè)晚上，我碰巧在樓上，窗戶是開(kāi)著的，我一直呆到非關(guān)窗不可的時(shí)候才下樓去。漆黑的雨夜，刮著大風(fēng)，電閃雷鳴，烏云滾滾，我完全被這種景象鎮(zhèn)住了。這是我一年半以來(lái)第一次親眼目睹的夜晚 不幸的是我只能透過(guò)那滿是灰塵的窗簾下那臟兮兮的窗戶看看大自然。只能隔著窗戶看那大自然實(shí)在沒(méi)意思，因?yàn)榇笞匀皇切枰嬲w驗(yàn)的東西。你的安妮 Reading and listening 讀與聽(tīng) 1) Read the letter that Lisa wrote to Miss Wang of Radio for Teenagers and predict what Miss Wang will say. After listening, check and discuss her advice.Dear Miss Wang,I am having some trouble with my classmates at the moment. Im getting along well with a boy in my class. We often do homework together and we enjoy helping each other. We have become really good friends. But other students have started gossiping. They say that this boy and I have fallen in love. This has made me angry. I dont want to end the friendship, but I hate others gossiping. What should I do?Yours,Lisa 1 讀讀琳達(dá)為青少年寫給電臺(tái)王小組的這封信，然后王小姐可能會(huì)怎么說(shuō)。聽(tīng)完錄音之后，核對(duì)并討論她的建議。親愛(ài)的王小姐：現(xiàn)在我同班上的同學(xué)有些麻煩事。我跟我們班里的一位男同學(xué)一直相處的很好。我們常常一起做家庭作業(yè)，而且很樂(lè)意互相幫助。我們成了真正好朋友?？墒牵渌瑢W(xué)卻在背后議論起來(lái)，他們說(shuō)我和這位男同學(xué)在談戀愛(ài)，這使我很生氣。我不想中斷這段友誼，但是，我又討厭人家背后說(shuō)閑話。我該怎么辦呢？你的莉薩Reading and writing Miss Wang has received a letter from Xiaodong. He is also asking for some advice. Read the letter on the right carefully and help Miss Wang answer it.王小姐收到小冬的一封來(lái)信。小冬是要征求一些意見(jiàn)。仔細(xì)閱讀右邊的信，然后幫王 小姐回復(fù)。Dear Miss Wang,Im a student from Huzhou Senior High School. I have a problem. Im not very good at communicating with people. Although I try to talk to my classmates, I still find it hard to make good friends with them. So I feel quite lonely sometimes. I do want to change this situation, but I dont know how. I would be grateful if you could give me some advice.Yours, Xiaodong親愛(ài)的王小姐：我是湖州高中的一名學(xué)生，我有一個(gè)難題，我不大善于與人們交際。雖然我試著和班上的同學(xué)交談，但是，我還是很難跟他們成為好朋友。因此，有時(shí)候我感到十分的孤獨(dú)。我確實(shí)想改變這種現(xiàn)狀，但是我卻不知道怎么辦。如果您能給我提些建議，我會(huì)非常感謝的。你的小東2 Decide which are the best ideas and put them into an order. Then write down your advice and explain how it will help. Each idea can make one paragraph. The following sample and the expressions may help youDear Xiaodong,Im sorry you are having trouble in making friends. However, the situation is easy to change if you follow my advice. Here are some tips to help you.First, why not?If you do this, Secondly, you could / can Then / That way, Thirdly, it would be a good idea if By doing this, I hope you will find these ideas useful.YoursMiss Wang 2 決定哪些是最好并把它們按順序組織起來(lái)。然后把你的建議寫出來(lái)，并解釋它為什么會(huì)有所幫助。每個(gè)想法可以自成一個(gè)段落。下面的例子和表達(dá)可能對(duì)你有所幫助。親愛(ài)的小冬：很遺憾聽(tīng)說(shuō)你在交朋友的過(guò)程中遇到了困難。但是，如果你聽(tīng)聽(tīng)我的建議，這種情況是很容易改變的。這些建議會(huì)對(duì)你有所幫助。第一，為什么不呢？如果你這樣做 第二，你可以這樣的話第三，如果那將是個(gè)不錯(cuò)的主意。通過(guò)做我希望你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)這些想法對(duì)你有所幫助。你的王小姐 LEARNING TIP 學(xué)習(xí)建議 Its a good habit for you to keep a diary. It can help you remember past events. You can express your feelings and thoughts in it. It will help you improve your English if you write your diary in English. Why not have a try?寫日記對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)是一個(gè)好習(xí)慣。它可以幫你記住一些過(guò)去發(fā)生的事件。你還可以在日記中表達(dá)你的情感和思想。如果你用英語(yǔ)寫日記的話，還可以幫助你提高英語(yǔ)水平。為什么不試一試呢？第二單元Reading THE ROAD TO MODERN ENGLISHAt the end of the 16th century, about five to seven million people spoke English. Nearly all of them lived in England. Later in the next century, people from England made voyages to conquer other parts of the world and because of that, English began to be spoken in many other countries. Today, more people speak English as their first, second or foreign language than ever before. 通向現(xiàn)代英語(yǔ)之路在16世紀(jì)末，大約有五至七百萬(wàn)人講英語(yǔ)。幾乎所有這些講英語(yǔ)的人都住在英格蘭。在其后的一個(gè)世紀(jì)中，英格蘭人為征服世界航海到了世界其他一些地方，結(jié)果世界的其他地方的人們也開(kāi)始說(shuō)英語(yǔ)了。今天，把英語(yǔ)作為自己的第一語(yǔ)言、第二語(yǔ)言或外語(yǔ)來(lái)使用的人比以往任何時(shí)候都多。 Native English speakers can understand each other even if they dont speak the same kind of English. Look at this example:British Betty: Would you like to see my flat?American Amy: Yes, Id like to come up to your apartment.以英語(yǔ)作為母語(yǔ)的人，即使他們所講不是同一種英語(yǔ)，他們也能彼此聽(tīng)懂。請(qǐng)看看這個(gè)例子：英國(guó)人貝蒂：來(lái)看看我的公寓嗎？美國(guó)人艾米：好的，我來(lái)看看你的公寓吧。So why has English changed over time? Actually all languages change and develop when cultures meet and communicate with each other. At first the English spoken in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was very different from the English spoken today. It was based more on German than the English we speak at present. Then gradually between about AD 800 and 1150, English became less like German because those who ruled England spoken first Danish and later French. These new settlers enriched the English language and especially its vocabulary. So by the 1600s Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 some British settlers moved to America. Later in the 18th century some British people were taken to Australia too. English began to be spoken in both countries.那么，隨著時(shí)間的推移英語(yǔ)為什么發(fā)生了變化呢？實(shí)際上，當(dāng)不同文化相互交流滲透時(shí)，所有的語(yǔ)言都會(huì)有所發(fā)展和變化。開(kāi)始，英格蘭人在大約公元450年到1150年之間所說(shuō)的英語(yǔ)與我們今天所說(shuō)的英語(yǔ)很不一樣。當(dāng)時(shí)的英語(yǔ)更多的是以德語(yǔ)為基礎(chǔ)的，不像我們現(xiàn)在說(shuō)的英語(yǔ)。后來(lái)，大約在公元800年至1150年之間，英語(yǔ)慢慢變得不那么像德語(yǔ)，因?yàn)榻y(tǒng)治英格蘭的那些人開(kāi)始是說(shuō)丹麥語(yǔ)，后來(lái)說(shuō)法語(yǔ)。這些新來(lái)的定居者豐富了英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)言，尤其是豐富了英語(yǔ)詞匯。所以到17世紀(jì)初的時(shí)候，莎士比亞能夠得以使用比以往任何時(shí)候都豐富的詞匯。1620年一些英國(guó)定居者來(lái)到了美洲，后來(lái)到了18世紀(jì)的時(shí)候，一些英國(guó)人還被帶到了澳大利亞。英語(yǔ)也就開(kāi)始在這兩個(gè)國(guó)家使用。Finally by the 19th century the language was settled. At that time two big changes in English spelling happened: first Samuel Johnson wrote his dictionary and later Noah Webster wrote The American Dictionary of the English Language. The latter gave a separate identity to American English spelling.最后到19世紀(jì)的時(shí)候，英語(yǔ)這種語(yǔ)言就變得穩(wěn)定了。當(dāng)時(shí)，英語(yǔ)的拼寫發(fā)生了兩個(gè)很大的變化：先是塞繆爾約翰遜編寫了他的英語(yǔ)詞典，后是諾亞韋伯斯特出版了美國(guó)英語(yǔ)詞典。后者使得美式英語(yǔ)的拼寫有了其獨(dú)特的個(gè)性。English now is also spoken as a foreign or second language in South Asia. For example, India has a very large number of fluent English speakers because Britain ruled India from 1765 to 1947. During that time English became the language for government and education. English is also spoken in Singapore and Malaysia and countries in Africa such as South Africa. Today the number of people learning English in China is increasing rapidly. In fact, China may have the largest number of English learners. Will Chinese English develop its own identity? Only time will tell.現(xiàn)在英語(yǔ)在南亞地區(qū)也被作為外語(yǔ)或第二語(yǔ)言使用。比如，印度就有很多人說(shuō)英語(yǔ)說(shuō)得很流利，因?yàn)樵?765年到1947年之間英國(guó)統(tǒng)治著印度。在此期間，英語(yǔ)成了印度政府和教育所用的語(yǔ)言。在新加坡和馬來(lái)西亞以及像非洲的南非，人們現(xiàn)在也說(shuō)英語(yǔ)。當(dāng)今，在中國(guó)學(xué)英語(yǔ)的人數(shù)正在快速增加，事實(shí)上，中國(guó)可能是學(xué)英語(yǔ)人數(shù)最多的國(guó)家。中國(guó)式英語(yǔ)是否也能發(fā)展成一種具有自己獨(dú)特個(gè)性的語(yǔ)言？這還有待時(shí)間去證明。STANDARD ENGLISH AND DIALECTSWhat is standard English? Is it spoken in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand? Believe it or not, there is no such thing as standard English. Many people believe the English spoken on TV and the radio is standard English. This is because in the early days of radio, those who reported the news were expected to speak excellent English. However, on TV and the radio you will hear differences in the way people speak.When people use words and expressions different form “standard language”, it is called a dialect. American English has many dialects, especially the midwestern, southern, African American and Spanish dialects. Even in some parts of the USA, two people from neighbouring towns speak a little differently. American English has so many dialects because people have come from all over the world.Geography also plays a part in making dialects. Some people who live in the mountains of the eastern USA speak with an older kind of English dialect. When Americans moved form one place to another, they took their dialects with them. So people from the mountains in the southeastern USA speak with almost the same dialect as people in the northwestern USA. The USA is a large country in which many different dialects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each others dialects.什么是標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語(yǔ)？是在英國(guó)、美國(guó)、加拿大、澳大利亞、印度、新西蘭所說(shuō)的英語(yǔ)嗎？信不信由你，（世界上）沒(méi)有什么標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語(yǔ)。許多人認(rèn)為，電視和收音機(jī)里所說(shuō)的英語(yǔ)就是標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語(yǔ)，這是因?yàn)樵谠缙诘碾娕_(tái)節(jié)目里，人們期望新聞播音員所說(shuō)的英語(yǔ)是最好的英語(yǔ)。然而，在電視和收音機(jī)里，你也會(huì)聽(tīng)出 人們?cè)谡f(shuō)話時(shí)的差異。 當(dāng)人們使用不同于“標(biāo)準(zhǔn)語(yǔ)言”的詞語(yǔ)和表達(dá)時(shí)，那就叫做方言。美國(guó)英語(yǔ)有許多方言，特別是中西部地區(qū)和南部地區(qū)的方言，以及美國(guó)黑人和西班牙人的方言。即使在美國(guó)有些地區(qū)，兩個(gè)相鄰城鎮(zhèn)的人所說(shuō)的方言也可能稍有不同。美國(guó)英語(yǔ)之所以有這么多的方言是因?yàn)槊绹?guó)人是來(lái)自世界各地的緣故。 地理位置對(duì)方言的形成也有所影響。住在美國(guó)東部山區(qū)的一些人說(shuō)著比較古老的英語(yǔ)方言。當(dāng)美國(guó)人從一個(gè)地方搬到另一個(gè)地方時(shí)，他們也就把他們的方言隨著帶去了。因此，美國(guó)東南部山區(qū)的人同美國(guó)西北部的人所說(shuō)的方言就幾乎相同。美國(guó)是一個(gè)大國(guó)，有著許許多多彼此不同的方言。雖然許多美國(guó)人經(jīng)常搬家，但是他們?nèi)匀荒軌虮鎰e和理解彼此的方言。Reading and speaking 讀與說(shuō) 1 Amy and her American friends are visiting London. They plan to visit Amys aunt and decide to go there by underground, but cannot find the nearest underground station. So she asks directions and then tells her friends. Read the dialogue and circle the words that mean the same. 1 艾米和她的美國(guó)朋友正在參觀倫敦。她們計(jì)劃去拜訪艾米的姑媽，并決定乘地鐵去，但是她們找不到最近的地鐵站。所以她問(wèn)問(wèn)了路，然后告訴她的朋友。讀對(duì)話，然后圈出意思相同的詞。AMY: Excuse me, Mama. Could you tell me where the nearest subways is?LADY: Er.the underground? Well, go round the corner on your left-hand side, straight on and cross two streets. Itll be on your right-hand side.AMY: Thanks so much.FRIENDS: What did she say, Amy?AMY: She told us to go around the corner on the left and keep going straight for two blocks. The subway will be on our right.艾米：對(duì)不起，夫人，你能告訴我去最近的地鐵站怎么走嗎？夫人：呃地鐵？哦，往左邊拐過(guò)去，一直往前走，走過(guò)兩條街，地鐵就是右邊。艾米：多謝了。朋友：艾米，她說(shuō)什么？艾米：她叫我們往左邊拐過(guò)去，一直往前走，走過(guò)兩條街，地鐵就是右邊?！疽馑枷嗤脑~】subwayunderground （地鐵）right-hand sideright （右邊）streetblock 街道，街區(qū)第三單元Travel journalJOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLANMy name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have dreamed about taking a great bike trip. Two years ago she bought an expensive mountain bike and then she persuaded me to buy one. Last year, she visited our cousins, Dao Wei and Yu Hang at their college in Kunming. They are Dai and grew up in western Yunnan Province near the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the river that is called the Mekong River in other countries. Wang Wei soon got them interested in cycling too. After graduating from college.we finally got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, Where are we going? It was my sister who first had the idea to cycle along the entire Mekong River from where it begins to where it ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip.I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shortcoming. She can be really stubborn. Although she didnt know the best way of getting to places, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now, I know that the proper way is always her way. I kept asking her, When are we leaving and when are we coming back? I asked her whether she had looked at a map yet. Of course, she hadnt; my sister doesnt care about details. So I told her that the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determined lookthe kind that said she would not change her mind. When I told her that our journey would begin at an altitude of more than 5,000 metres, she seemed to be excited about it. When I told her the air would be hard to breathe and it would be very cold, she said it would be an interesting experience. I know my sister well. Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in.Several months before our trip,Wang Wei and I went to the library. We found a large atlas with good maps that showed details of world geography. From the atlas we could see that the Mekong River begins in a glacier on a Tibetan mountain. At first the river is small and the water is clear and cold. Then it begins to move quickly. It becomes rapids as it passes through deep valleys, travelling across western Yunnan Province. Sometimes the river becomes a waterfall and enters wide valleys. We were both surprised to learn that half of the river is in China. After it leaves China and the high altitude,the Mekong becomes wide，brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asia, its pace slows. It makes wide bends or meanders through low valleys to the plains where rice grows. At last, the river delta enters the South China Sea.沿湄公河而下的旅行第一部分 夢(mèng)想與計(jì)劃我的名字叫王坤。從高中起，我姐姐和我就一直夢(mèng)想作一次偉大的自行車旅行。兩年前，她買了一輛價(jià)錢昂貴的山地自行車，然后她還說(shuō)服我也買了一輛。去年她去看望了我們的表兄弟在昆明讀大學(xué)的刀偉和宇航。他們是傣族人，在云南省西部靠近瀾滄江的地方長(zhǎng)大，湄公河在中國(guó)境內(nèi)的這一段叫瀾滄江，流經(jīng)其他國(guó)家后就叫湄公河。很快，王薇使表兄弟也對(duì)騎車旅行產(chǎn)生了興趣。到大學(xué)畢業(yè)后，我們終于有了作一次騎車旅行的機(jī)會(huì)。我問(wèn)姐姐：“我們要去哪里？”首先想到要沿湄公河從源頭到終點(diǎn)騎車旅行的是我的姐姐?，F(xiàn)在，她正為這次旅行制訂計(jì)劃。我很喜歡我姐姐，但是她有一個(gè)嚴(yán)重的缺點(diǎn)，她有時(shí)確實(shí)很固執(zhí)。盡管她對(duì)到某些地方的最佳路線并不清楚，她卻堅(jiān)持要把這次旅行安排的盡善盡美?，F(xiàn)在我知道了這個(gè)盡善盡美的方式總是她的方式。我老是問(wèn)她：“我們什么時(shí)候動(dòng)身？什么時(shí)候回來(lái)？”我問(wèn)她是否已經(jīng)看過(guò)地圖。當(dāng)然她并沒(méi)有看過(guò)，我的姐姐是不會(huì)考慮細(xì)節(jié)的。于是我告訴她湄公河的源頭在青海省。她給了我一個(gè)堅(jiān)定的眼神這種眼神表明她是不會(huì)改變主意的。當(dāng)我告訴她我們的旅行將從5000多米的的高地出發(fā)時(shí)，她似乎顯得很興奮。當(dāng)我告訴她那里空氣稀薄，呼吸會(huì)很困難，而且天氣會(huì)很冷時(shí)，她卻說(shuō)這將是一次很有趣的經(jīng)歷。我非常了解我的姐姐，她一旦下了決心，就什么也不能使她改變。最后，我只好讓步了。在我們旅行前的幾個(gè)月，王薇和我去了圖書館。我們找到了一本大型的地圖冊(cè)，里面有一些世界地理的明細(xì)圖。我們從圖上可以看到，湄公河源于西藏一座山上的冰川。起初，河很小，河水清澈而冷冽，然后它開(kāi)始快速流動(dòng)。它穿過(guò)深谷時(shí)就變成了急流。流經(jīng)云南西部。有時(shí)，這條河形成瀑布進(jìn)入寬闊的峽谷。我們驚奇的發(fā)現(xiàn)這條河有一半是在中國(guó)境內(nèi)。當(dāng)流出中國(guó)，流出高地后，湄公河就變寬，變暖了。河水也變成了黃褐色。而當(dāng)它進(jìn)入東南亞以后，流速減慢，河水變寬慢慢地穿過(guò)低谷，到了長(zhǎng)著稻谷的平原。最后，湄公河三角洲的各支流流入中國(guó)南海。Reading and discussingJOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONGPART 2 A NIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINSAlthough it was autumn, the snow was already beginning to fall in Tibet. Our legs were so heavy and cold that they felt like blocks of ice. Have you ever seen snowmen ride bicycles? Thats what we looked like! Along the way children dressed in long wool coats stopped to look at us. In the late afternoon we found it was so cold that our water bottles froze. However, the lakes shone like glass in the setting sun and looked wonderful. Wang Wei rode in front of me as usual. She is very reliable and I knew I didnt need to encourage her. To climb the mountains was hard work but as we looked around us, we were surprised by the view. We seemed to be able to see for miles. At one point we were so high that we found ourselves cycling through clouds. Then we began going down the hills. It was great fun especially as it gradually became much warmer. In the valleys colorful butterflies flew around us and we saw many yaks and sheep eating green grass. At this point we had to change our caps, coats, gloves and trousers for T-shirts and shorts.In the early evening we always stop to make camp. We put up our tent and then we eat. After supper Wang Wei put her head down on her pillow and went to sleep but I stayed awake. At midnight the sky became clearer and the stars grew brighter. It was so quiet. There was almost no wind-only the flames of our fire for company. As I lay beneath the stars I thought about how far we had already travelled.We will reach Dali in Yunnan Province soon, where our cousins Dao Wei and Yu Hang will join us. We can hardly wait to see them! Unit 4 EarthquakesA NIGHT THE EARTH DIDNT SLEEPStrange things were happening in the countryside of northeast Hebei.For three days the water in the village wells rose and fell, rose and fell. Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them. A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In the farmyards, the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous to eat. Mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide. Fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds. At about 3:00 am on July 28,1976,some people saw bright lights in the sky. The sound of planes could be heard outside the city of Tangshan even when no planes were in the sky. In the city, the water pipes in some buildings cracked and burst. but the one million people of the city, who thought little of these events, were asleep as usual that night.At 3:42 am everything began to shake. It seemed as if the world was at an end! Eleven kilometers directly below the city the greatest earthquake of the 20th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing, which is more than two hundred kilometers away. One-third of the nation felt it. A huge crack that was eight kilometres long and thirty metres wide cut across houses, roads and canals. Steam burst from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dir. In fifteen terrible seconds a large city lay in ruins. The suffering of the people was extreme. Two-thirds of them died or were left without parents. The number of people who were killed or injured re