暴雨引发印尼火山剧烈喷发
Indonesians are used to dealing with natural disasters. Their country sits on the Ring of Fire, a band around the Pacific Ocean that sets off frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. But Mount Semeru’s eruption on the island of Java Saturday was different. Days of heavy rain had gradually destroyed Semeru’s lava dome(熔岩穹丘), a mound of hardened lava, which partially collapsed.
It was this “dome avalanche” that Indonesian volcanologists believe caused the eruption, according to the country’s geological chief, Eko Budi Lelono, from the Ministry of Resources. “Based on photos and data, we can compare the size of the dome before and after the December 4 eruption. We can see a big mass of the dome’s volume was lost after the heavy rain that day,” he said.
A lava dome can be unstable and collapse for several reasons, but there is growing understanding that heavy rain can be one of them. The role of rain in this case has raised questions about whether climate change could bring more frequent eruptions of this kind. That’s a concern, because eruptions caused by lava-dome collapse tend to be stronger and more destructive than other types.
Saturday’s eruption created what’s known as pyroclastic flow(火山碎屑流), which are fast-moving clouds of lava, gas and ash. The temperature of these clouds are typically between 800 to 1,000 degrees Celsius. It can move fast — sometimes around 10 kilometers an hour, but up to 100 km/h — and can be impossible to run from.
The force of this eruption was bigger than usual. Mount Semeru shot ash some 15 kilometers up into the air, when it’s typically just hundreds of meters, and the pyroclastic clouds reached more than 12 kilometers on land, much further than the usual 5 km, Eko said. Thousands of buildings were damaged, with many buried under heavy piles of ash. More than 30 people were killed in the weekend eruption and searchers will try to rescue dozens more people missing.
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1.What caused the eruption of Mount Smeru?
A The frequent earthquakes.
B The volcanic activity.
C The Ring of Fire.
D The collapsed lava dome.
解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据文章第一段最后一句的“Days of heavy rain had gradually eroded Semeru’s lava dome, a mound of hardened lava, which partially collapsed”和第三段第一句可以得知，连日的大雨导致了熔岩穹丘的坍塌，然后造成了印尼塞梅鲁火山的喷发。故选D。
2.How did Eko Budi Lelono get the reason of the eruption?
A By building up the big mass of the dome.
B By comparing the related information.
C By calling at the Ministry of Resources.
D By measuring the volume of the rain.
解析：选B。B 推理判断题。根据文章第二段第二句的“Based on photos and data, we can compare the size of the dome before and after the December 4 eruption...”可以得知，Eko Budi Lelono是通过比对相关的信息(熔岩穹丘在火山爆发前后的大小)得出的结论。故选B。
3.Why was Saturday’s eruption so destructive?
A It had lower temperature.
B It carried little gas or ash.
C Mount Semeru had very wet ground.
D The pyroclastic clouds traveled at great speed.
解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据文章第四段最后一句的“It can move fast — sometimes around 10 kilometers an hour, but up to 100 km/h — and can be impossible to run from.”可以得知，火山碎石流的流动速度极快，让人根本无法逃离，因此造成了如此大的破坏性。故选D。
4.What will the searchers do?
A They will clear all the piles of ash.
B They will measure pyroclastic clouds.
C They will search for the lost people.
D They will rebuild the fallen houses.
解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据文章最后一段最后一句“More than 30 people were killed in the weekend eruption and searchers will try to rescue dozens more people missing”可以得知，搜救人员会继续搜救那些失踪人员。故选C。