Section_ⅢLesson_2_&_Lesson_3_-_Pre­reading_

　　Nature is turning on us

　　The last few years have seen① environmental disasters on a grand② scale③， and experts are predicting far worse to come. Jin Li reports on our Earth's changeable④ weather patterns.

　　A

　　In the last decade, thunderstorms⑤， floods, earthquakes, typhoons⑥， volcanic eruptions⑦， tsunamis⑧ and forest fires have become increasingly⑨ common. There has been terrible flooding in Asia, Africa, America and Oceania. (1)________ Storms have been getting worse everywhere too, with a growing number of hurricanes hitting⑩ the US, and Central America. Reduced rainfall⑪ has affected large areas of Africa for years leaving irrigation⑫ canals dry and many other zones are becoming drier. (2)________ A number of⑬ nations have already been in armed⑭ conflict⑮ over water, and reduced rainfall in the west of the US has resulted in⑯ huge forest fires.

　　①see vt.某时/某地发生某情况，经历，经受，常用物作主语，以增添语言色彩。

　　②grand/grænd/adj.巨大的

　　③scale/skeIl/n.规模，范围

　　on a large/grand scale 大规模的/地

　　④changeable/'tʃeIndʒbl/adj.多变的

　　⑤thunderstorm/'θʌndəstɔːm/n.雷暴，雷雨

　　⑥typhoon/ˌtaI'fuːn/n.台风

　　⑦eruption n．爆发，发生

　　⑧tsunami/tsʊ'nɑːmi/n.海啸

　　⑨increasingly adv.越来越多地　相当于more and more。

　　⑩with ... hurricanes hitting ...是"with＋宾语＋v.­ing形式"的with的复合结构。

⑪rainfall/'reInfɔːl/n.降雨量