保护普通百姓免遭火山的威胁--这是世界上最大的自然威力之一。

　　20年前，作为一名火山学家，我被派到夏威夷火山观测站(HVO)工作。我的任务是收集有关基拉韦厄火山的数据资料，这是夏威夷最活跃的火山之一。收集和评估这些信息之后，我就帮助其他科学家一起预测熔岩接着将流向何处，流速是多少。我们的工作拯救了许多人的生命，因为熔岩要流经之地，老百姓都可以得到离开家园的通知。遗憾的是，我们不可能把他们的家搬离岩浆流经之路，因此，许多房屋被熔岩淹没，或者焚烧殆尽。

　　When boiling rock erupts from a volcano and crashes back to earth, it causes less damage⑬ rocks fall. The lava that flows slowly like a wave⑮ down the mountain⑯ causes far more damage because it buries everything in its path under the molten⑰ rock. However, the eruption⑱ itself is really exciting to watch⑲ and I shall never forget my first sight of one. It was in the second week after I arrived in Hawaii. Having worked hard all day, I went to bed early. I was fast asleep⑳ when suddenly my bed began shaking and I heard a strange sound, like a railway train passing my window. Having experienced quite a few earthquakes in Hawaii already, I didn't take much notice. I was about to go back to sleep when suddenly my bedroom became as bright as day. I ran out of the house into the back garden where I could see Mount Kilauea in the distance\s\up1(21(21). There had been an eruption from the side of the mountain and red hot lava was fountaining\s\up1(22(22) hundreds of metres into the air. It was an absolutely\s\up1(23(23) fantastic\s\up1(24(24) sight. ⑬cause damage 造成损失than you might imagine⑭. This is because no one lives near the top of Mount Kilauea, where the

⑭than引导比较状语从句。

⑮wave/weIv/n.波浪；波涛 vi.波动；起伏；挥手

⑯that引导定语从句，修饰the lava。

⑰molten/'məʊltən/adj.熔化的；熔融的

⑱eruption/I'rʌpʃn/n.火山爆发；(战争等)爆发

erupt/I'rʌpt/vi.(指火山)爆发；突然发生

⑲to watch是动词不定式的主动形式表达被动意义。

⑳fast asleep 睡得很香

\s\up1(21(21)in the distance 在远处；在远方

\s\up1(22(22)fountain/'faʊntIn; US­tn/vi.&vt.泉水般地喷出或涌出 n．喷泉；源泉

\s\up1(23(23)absolutely/'æbsəluːtlI；ˌæbsə'luːtlI/adv.绝对地；完全地

absolute/'æbsəluːt/adj.绝对的；完全的

\s\up1(24(24)fantastic adj.极好的；吸引人的；有趣的

　　 [第3段译文],　　当滚烫的岩石从火山喷发出来并撞回地面时，它所造成的损失比想象的要小些，这是因为在岩石下落的基拉韦厄火山顶附近无人居住。而像波浪一样顺着山坡缓缓流下的火山熔岩所造成的损失却大得多，这是因为火山岩浆所流经的地方，一切东西都被掩埋在熔岩下面了。然而火山喷发本身看起来的确是很壮观的，我永远也忘不了我第一次看见火山喷发时的情景。那是在我抵达夏威夷后的第二个星期。那天我辛辛苦苦地干了一整天