私醫聯招◆英文題庫下載題庫

People once thought that a solar eclipse meant that a terrible disaster would happen. Now we know that is not true, but millions of people do suffer from true natural disasters ranging from deadly typhoons from the sea to tornadoes on land. Fossils show that natural disasters have been affecting life on earth since long before human existed. These disasters still affect us all. 

Our oceans and straits may be affected by typhoons. In the mountains and gorges of Taiwan and elsewhere, the rains brought by these storms often lead to mudslides. In other parts of the world, there is sometimes not enough rain, resulting in a drought. Because of the drought, crops wither and people starve. Earthquakes are also a constant danger. Even a small tremor is able to destroy a poorly constructed building or the span of a bridge. Larger earthquakes sometimes cause huge waves, called tsunamis, which destroy villages and kill thousands of people. The eruption of volcanoes can also be a major hazard and the vapors that spill from them can be as dangerous as the mud and ash that come from them. 

Governments around the world spend large amounts of money on efforts to protect their people from the effects of natural disasters and the famines that often follow. After a disaster strikes, governments and individual donors from around the world rush to help those nations that have been affected, rebuilding farms and canals. Many governments work through the United Nations to develop systems to warn people of tempests and tsunamis approaching the coast. Despite our great advances in science and technology, we still suffer from natural disasters the same way that our ancestors did thousands of years ago.