听力文本

The rock that the volcano melts flows over the top like a pot boiling over and runs down the sides in streams that gradually harden into rock as they cool off. This rock is called lava, and as there is plenty of lava around Naples the people there use blocks of lava to pave their streets.

Some years ago I was in Naples after Vesuvius had been firing up. The streets of Naples were filled with what looked like gray snow. The gray snow was dust that had fallen from the volcano, but it would not melt like snow and had to be carted away and dumped into the Bay of Naples. I wanted to see what the inside of a volcano looked like. There had been a railway almost to the top, but it had been wrecked. So I climbed from the bottom to the top, though it took half a day to do so, for at each step my feet sank deep into the ashes. I looked over the edge, down into the fiery mouth of the volcano. Every now and then pieces of rock would shoot high into the air and, looking up, I would dodge those that fell near-by. Entirely, too many were falling around me, so I started back down the side of the volcano. I didn’t walk down, I jumped, for each step I took was like jumping off a house, and at each step I fell, only I didn’t hurt myself when I fell, for I sank into the ashes up to my knees, up to my waist, up to my neck. It was great fun, like jumping into a pile of hay, only it was oh, so dirty! It took me half a day to go up—it took me about ten minutes to come down—but hours to wash off the ashes when I was down, and my clothes were utterly ruined.

Some birds build their nests on the tops of chimneys, but it seems strange that people should build their homes at the foot of a volcano that may blow up and destroy them at any time. Yet long, long ago people built a city at the foot of Vesuvius, nearer even than Naples. It was called Pompeii. All of a sudden one day Vesuvius began to burn and boil and then blew up. Before any one in Pompeii knew what was going to happen, before any one had time to move from the spot where he was working or playing, Vesuvius had poured down on this little city its deadly fire and smoke and gas, and every one was killed where he stood and buried deep in dust and ashes. There the city and its people lay buried for almost two thousand years. Not so very long ago the city was dug out, its houses and temples and theaters were uncovered, and travelers can now visit the ruins, walk through the streets, and go into the houses and shops where once upon a time people went about their daily tasks and pleasures without a thought that the end of the World was coming to them in the twinkling of an eye.

参考译文

火山火可以像熔化黄油那样轻而易举地熔化岩石。那些被熔化了的岩石，就像因沸腾而溢出水壶的开水，小溪般从山顶四周流下，最终冷却下来逐渐变成岩石。这种岩石被称作火山岩。由于那不勒斯周围有大量火山岩，那儿的人们就用大块的火山岩铺街道。

几年前，我在维苏威火山喷发后不久来到那不勒斯。道路上盖满了像灰色的雪一样的东西。那些灰色的雪就是从火山上落下的火山灰，但不会像雪那样融化，需要被大车运走，倒进那不勒斯海湾。我想看一看火山里面是什么样的。曾经有一条几乎通到山顶的铁路，但被毁了。于是，我从山下攀上山顶，这花费了我半天的时间。因为每走一步我的脚都会陷进厚厚的灰中。我从火山口的边缘，朝烈火炎炎的火山口向下看。不时有石块射向空中，我向上看以躲避那些落在周围的岩石碎块。确实有不少岩石落在我周围，于是我决定往回走，不是步行，而是跳跃，每跳一步都像是从房子上跳下来，每跳一步，我都会摔倒，不过没有受伤，因为我陷入了灰尘中，我的膝盖、腰，甚至脖子都陷进灰里。这实在是太有趣了，就像跳进了草堆里，只不过，噢，好脏啊。我花了半天的时间爬上山顶，而下山仅用了十分钟，但下山后我花了好几个小时来洗掉身上的灰尘，我的衣服全毁了。

一些鸟类会把巢建在烟囱顶部，但是，如果有人将家园建在一座随时会喷发并可能将他们家园毁灭的火山旁边，就有些奇怪了。然而，在很久以前，人们在维苏威火山脚下建起了一座城市，比那不勒斯离火山还要近，它叫庞贝。突然有一天，维苏威火山开始燃烧，沸腾，然后爆发了。对将要发生的事，庞贝城中还无人来得及知道，也无人有时间从他们工作或游戏的场所逃离，维苏威火山就将它致命的火焰、烟尘和气体倾泻到这座小城之上，每个人就在他所站立的地方死去并被深埋进火山灰中。这座城和城里的人就被埋在那里长达两千年之久。前不久，这座城市被挖了出来，那些房屋、庙宇和剧院得以重见天日。游客可以参观这些废墟，在街道上行走，还进入那些房子和商店。很久以前，就在这些地方，人们忙于日常工作并享受生活，从未想到世界末日在眨眼之间就降临到他们身上。