VOA慢速英语:The Ever-Present Threat of Tsunamis

短语讲解：

1. The earthquake displaces a large amount of water in the ocean.

a large amount of大量
例句：Compiling a dictionary involves a large amount of work.
编撰词典需要做大量的工作。

2. Scientists say that strong earthquakes under the sea are responsible for eighty to ninety percent of all tsunamis.

be responsible for为…负责,形成…的原因
例句：The weather is responsible for the delay.
由于天气关系才耽搁了。

3. In the deep ocean, a tsunami wave may rise up only about three hundred millimeters.

rise up耸立, 上升
例句：We are sure that there is sb in the house because we see smoke rise straight up in the air.
我们确信房子里有人, 因为我们看到有烟冒出来。

4. The land underneath the ocean is made up of tectonic plates.

be made up of由…组成
例句：Clouds are made up of water.
云是由水构成的。

5. Usually the plates just rub up against each other on a crack, also called a fault line.

rub up擦亮; 重温
例句：She rubbed up the silver plates to a high gloss.
她把银盘擦得很亮。

6. It suddenly springs up, resulting in an earthquake.

spring up突然开始; 突然产生; 快速增加〔增长〕
例句：New towns are springing up to house the increasing population.
新的城镇正迅速建起, 以容纳不断增长的人口。
result in导致,结果是
例句：The quarrel resulted in his mother leaving the house.
争吵导致了他母亲离家出走。

7. When a tsunami forms, the wave can spread out quickly.

spread out伸展; 延长
例句：The wood spread out in all directions.
树木向四面八方延伸。

8. These include hearing a roaring or sucking noise, seeing the ocean suddenly pull back or rise, or feeling a strong earthquake that lasts more than twenty seconds.

pull back撤退
例句：The platoon pulled back to safety.
这一排士兵撤回到了安全地带。

9. You might have to stay away from low-lying areas for as long as twenty hours after the first warning.

stay away from远离
例句：The doctor advised him to stay away from fattening foods.
医生劝告他不宜吃脂肪多的食物。

10. So what we do those events is we tell people in those communities that if the earth shakes for more than twenty seconds and you cannot stand up through the earthquake that you need to hold through that earthquake but as soon as the earthquake is over you need to move to higher ground.

as soon as一...就...
例句：Come here as soon as you finish the work.
工作一结束你就到这里来。