Újra kitört az Etna

City & Guilds nyelvvizsga

Read the text and answer the questions. Write a maximum of five words for each answer.An example is done for you.

The History of Volcanic Eruptions

The word volcano comes from the name of Vulcan, the ancient Roman god of fire and metalworking. The Romans believed that volcanic eruptions resulted when Vulcan made thunderbolts and weapons for the gods. Other cultures explained volcanoes as outbursts of anger from a god or goddess. Pele was the name of the volcano goddess of the native Hawaiians.

Volcanoes have a long history of destruction. In AD 79 the eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Two of the deadliest volcanic eruptions happened in 1815 and 1883 on islands in what is now Indonesia. In 1815 Mount Tambora released so much ash into the air that it blocked out large amounts of sunlight. Temperatures around the world dropped for months afterwards, making 1816 a ‘year without a summer’. In 1883 the volcano Krakatoa exploded and collapsed, triggering a colossal sea wave known as a tsunami. Tens of thousands of people were killed by these events.

On 15 May 1902 Mount Pelée erupted on the Caribbean island of Martinique. Although very little lava flowed, an unstoppable black cloud of hot gases and ash engulfed the city of St Pierre, killing almost all of its 30,000 people.

The birth of a volcano was witnessed between 1943 and 1952, when a smoking hole in a Mexican farmer’s cornfield erupted into a new mountain. The volcano, called Paricutín, eventually stood 425 metres (1,400 feet) above the level ground around it. In 1963 a new volcanic island called Surtsey rose up from the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland. Within a few years it built up to an area of 2.5 square kilometres (1 square mile), with a peak more than 170 metres (560 feet) above sea level.

The 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens, in the US state of Washington, was one of the biggest in North America. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, in the Philippines, was the largest of the 1900s. These eruptions killed fewer people than earlier volcanoes, but they still destroyed much property. Another volcano in Iceland erupted in 2010 and caused major problems for travellers throughout the world. The volcano produced a huge ash cloud that spread to the east. Many airports in Europe were closed for days because it was too dangerous for planes to fly through the ash.

There are no live volcanoes in the British Isles, but there remains evidence of the country’s volcanic past. Edinburgh was built on an extinct volcano called Arthur’s Seat, and volcanic rocks can be found all over Britain.

source: www.britannica.co.uk

answers: