19 What does the underlined phrase “this prodigious phenomenon” in the passage refer to?
(A)The resort town of Rome
(B)The eruption of Vesuvius
(C)The sea of Naples
(D)The high tower of Pompeii

In the first century A.D. Pompeii庞贝 was a pretty and prosperous繁榮 resort渡假勝地 town. There were some 12,000year-round一年到頭的、經歷全年的 inhabitants居民 and hundreds more who came down下來 from Rome each summer to their villas by the sea.

On a hot summer day, around noon中午—it was August 24, A.D. 79—the people of Pompeii saw a huge cloud forming over成型the mountain north of the city. This was the last noontime Pompeii would ever know, because that cloud of volcanic火山 debris殘駭 was the beginning of a massive大量 eruption爆發 that blew（blow 的過去式）爆開  the top off Vesuvius維蘇威火山, burying the city beneath之下 12 feet of rock and ash and unleashing釋放 a blast爆破 of toxic gases. Thousands were killed—in their homes, in the streets, in businesses and brothels妓院. Thousands more fled（尤指因危險或恐懼而）逃跑 madly瘋狂地 toward the sea.

Those who were running for their lives must have been surprised to see a curious figure racing not from but toward the volcano火山. This was the great Roman naturalist自然主義者  Pliny the Elder. Seeing the initial最初 eruption from a safe distance at his home near Naples, there nowned scientific observer just could not stay away.

He grabbed his notebook and stylus鐵筆 and hightailed it for Pompeii to gather firsthand information on this prodigious強大的、巨大的 phenomenon. Pliny’s curiosity cost him his life.