Page 412 - Tài Liệu Ôn Thi THPT Quốc Gia Môn Tiếng Anh

to forget about the forcos of nature. 1.................... Although the images of
destruction which we have seen on our television screens are horriíĩc, they
are, in fact, just the tip of the iceberg compared to what nature can really do.
Tornadoes, which are the fastest and most violent winds on earth, can
reach speeds of over 500 kph. 2.................... Roofs of houses, cars, animals,
buses and people have been lifted into the air in this way. Those people
whose lives have been put at risk hy “twisters” have described how helpless
they felt in the face of such power.

A tornado is a violently spinning column of air that can start to form
during a thunderstorm, of which there are about 45,000 a day worldwide. Of
course, not all thunderstorms bring about tornadoes and not ^dl tornadoes
bring about total destruction. The most destructive ones occur in India,
Bangladesh and “Tornado Alley” in the USA. The worst ever “twister” hit this
area in March 1925, when a huge tornado travelled across Missouri, Illinois
and Indiana, killing 695 people and injuring a hirther 2,027. 3..................
A blizzard is another natural phenomenon which aíĩects North America. It is
a deadly mixture of wind, snow and freezing temperatiưes. 4.................Muscles
and internal organs then fail to work when body temperature íalls below 30°c.
In the USA, blizzards are quite common, with winds travelling at up to 65 kph.
It is believed that global warming, which is causing ice caps to melt, will
be the cause of more blizzards in the future. Even Britain may experience
blizzards as violent as the One which hit New York, Washington, Boston and
Philadelphia in ơanuary, 1996. These cities became completely paralysed
when snow up to 78 cm deep and weighing a total of lĩve billion tons covered
an area 800 km long. 5...................
Apart from causing death and injury directly, tornadoes and blizzards can
also cause íloods. Naturally, floods are usually caused by heavy rainfall, but
whichever way they are created, they can be very destructive. The most
dangerous and dramatic ones are known as ílash Aoods. In June 1976, hot
air blew north from the Gulf of Mexico, bringing huge thunderstorms to the
Big Thomson Gorge, where they released 25 cm of rain in six hours. All the
mountain streams filled up and met at the Big Thomson Gorge. 6...................
The water then flowed through the canyon, removing ever3 dhing in its path,
killing 139 people and causing damage worth $36 million. Other íloods on
record have developed more slowly but have been equally destructive.
7.................... If we choose to ignore it and believe we are the supreme
rulers of the planet, we may be in for a big surprise. Remember, lightning
can strike twice in the same place.

A. Anything in their path can be picked up OÍT the ground and dropped
hundreds of metres away.

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