031 龙卷风来袭

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Last Thursday, just before dinner, Steve Jones and his sister were playing in their front yard

上周四，晚饭前，史蒂夫·琼斯和他妹妹正在前院玩耍。

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It was a warm spring day and they were enjoying themselves in the sun

那是个温暖的春日，他们在阳光下玩得很开心。

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All of a sudden, the sky started to get dark. Then it became even darker

突然，天开始变暗，接着变得更黑了。

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" It looks like it's going to rain," said Steve." We'd better get inside."

“看起来要下雨了，”史蒂夫说，“我们最好进屋去。”

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Just then the wind really started to blow

就在这时，风猛地刮了起来。

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As the children reached their house, a large lightning bolt struck nearby

孩子们刚到家门口，一道巨大的闪电就劈在附近。

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Then they heard thunder boom. Within minutes it was raining very hard

接着他们听到了隆隆雷声。几分钟内，雨就下得非常大。

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" This is the biggest thunderstorm I have ever seen!" exclaimed Steve

“这是我见过最大的雷暴！”史蒂夫喊道。

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" Look! Now it's snowing!"

“看！下雪了！”

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" That's not snow," said Steve's dad

“那不是雪，”史蒂夫的爸爸说。

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" That's hail. We'd better turn on the radio

"那是冰雹。我们最好打开收音机。

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There might be a tornado coming."

可能有龙卷风要来了。"

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" The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for Madison County in Texas," said the voice on the radio

"国家气象局已对得克萨斯州麦迪逊县发布龙卷风警报，"收音机里的声音说。

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" This could really be a bad one

"这次可能真的很严重。

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You'd better move to a small room in your house and get away from any windows

你们最好躲进家里的小房间，远离所有窗户。

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If you have a basement, go downstairs right now."

如果有地下室，立刻下楼去。"

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Then came the wind

接着狂风大作。

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It roared so loudly that Steve thought a train was driving through their kitchen

风声呼啸震耳，史蒂夫还以为有列火车正穿过他们家厨房。

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Dad had to shout at the top of his lungs to tell the family what to do

爸爸不得不扯着嗓子大声喊，才能告诉家人该怎么做。

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" Everyone! Go to the basement now!" he shouted

"所有人！立刻去地下室！"他大喊道。

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Dad turned off the electricity and Steve turned off the gas

爸爸关掉了电，史蒂夫关掉了燃气。

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Then the family hid in the basement

然后，一家人躲进了地下室。

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The noise grew louder and louder. Then the house started to shake

响声越来越大。接着，房子开始震动起来。

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They could hear the glass smashing and wood breaking. It was terrifying

他们能听到玻璃碎裂和木头折断的声音。太吓人了。

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Steve and his sister started to cry

史蒂夫和妹妹哭了起来。

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" What's going on?" Steve shouted

“发生什么事了？”史蒂夫喊道。

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" The tornado is hitting our house!" Dad shouted

“龙卷风正袭击我们的房子！”爸爸喊道。

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" Don't move! Cover your head with your hands."

“别动！用手抱住头。”

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After a few terrible minutes, the sound quieted down and the house stopped shaking

可怕的几分钟过后，声音平息下来，房子也停止了震动。

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Steve and his family carefully climbed out of their basement

史蒂夫和家人小心地从地下室里爬了出来。

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Their house was a complete mess

他们的房子一片狼藉。

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All of the windows had been smashed to pieces, and things had been blown all over the house

所有窗户都被砸得粉碎，东西被吹得到处都是。

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Outside, things were just as bad

外面情况同样糟糕。

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The family car was upside down, and most of their trees had been knocked down

家里的车底朝天，大多数树都被吹倒了。

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Debris was scattered all over the neighborhood. Steve started to cry

废墟散落在整个街区。史蒂夫哭了起来。

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" Everything we own is gone," cried Steve

“我们拥有的一切都没了。”史蒂夫哭着说。

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But Steve's dad replied," That's not true, Steve

但史蒂夫的爸爸回答：“不是这样的，史蒂夫。

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We're all alive and safe, and that's what is most important."

我们都活着，安全无恙，这才是最重要的。”

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Tornadoes are very powerful and can cause great destruction

龙卷风非常强大，可以造成巨大的破坏。

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When warm, moist air collides with cold, dry air, the air does not mix well

当暖湿空气与干冷空气相遇时，空气不易混合。

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If warm air gets trapped below the cold air, it tries to push itself up

如果暖空气被困在冷空气之下，它就会试图上升。

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As the warm air moves upward, it spins around extremely quickly

暖空气上升时，会极速旋转。

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The mixing of cold air and warm air causes a thunderstorm

冷空气和暖空气的混合会引发雷暴。

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Usually the thunderstorm just dies out, but sometimes the air rotation is very strong

通常雷暴会逐渐消散，但有时空气旋转会非常强烈。

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Most tornadoes are very small and don't cause much damage, but some tornadoes can be very dangerous

大多数龙卷风规模很小，不会造成多大损害，但有些龙卷风可能非常危险。

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There are three kinds of tornadoes: weak, strong, and violent

龙卷风分为三种：弱、强和猛烈。

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A weak tornado will not hurt you if you are inside your house, but a strong tornado can be very harmful

弱龙卷风如果你在屋里就不会受伤，但强龙卷风可能危害很大。

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However, if you are in the basement of your house, you will probably be okay

然而，如果你在家里的地下室，你很可能就没事。

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Violent tornadoes are the worst. They are the real killers

猛烈龙卷风是最糟糕的。它们是真正的杀手。

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Even if you are in your basement, you may not be safe from one of them

即使你在地下室里，遇到这种龙卷风也可能不安全。

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The tornado that hit Steve's house was a strong one

袭击史蒂夫家的龙卷风是一个强龙卷风。

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The wind twisting inside it was about two hundred kilometers an hour

它内部旋转的风速大约每小时两百公里。

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That is twice as fast as a car drives on the highway

那是汽车在高速公路上行驶速度的两倍。

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Steve and his family are alive and safe today because they listened to the tornado warning and took refuge in their basement

史蒂夫和他的家人今天能安然无恙，是因为他们听了龙卷风警报，躲进了地下室。

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After several weeks of hard work, Steve's family managed to repair their house and return to their usual life

经过几个星期的辛勤劳作，史蒂夫一家修复了房子，恢复了正常生活。

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But Steve never forgot the day when the tornado hit his house

但史蒂夫从未忘记龙卷风袭击他家的那一天。