00:07.99]The power of nature
[00:10.03]Reading
[00:11.18]AN EXCITING JOB
[00:14.34]I have the greatest job in the world.
[00:18.18]I travel to unusual places and meet interesting people from all over the world.
[00:24.45]Sometimes working outdoors,
[00:26.91]sometimes in an office,
[00:29.15]sometimes using scientific instruments in my work and sometimes meeting with local people and tourists,
[00:36.34]I am never bored.
[00:38.48]Although my job is occasionally dangerous I don’t mind, because danger excites me and makes me feel alive.
[00:47.12]However, the most important thing about my job is that I help to protect people from one of the most powerful natural forces on earth –the volcano.
[00:59.38]I am a volcanologist working for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO).
[01:07.32]My main job is collecting information about Mount Kilauea, which is one of the most active volcanoes in Hawaii.
[01:17.37]Having collected and evaluated the information, I help other scientists to predict where lava from the volcano will flow next and how fast it will flow.
[01:29.84]Our work has saved man lives because people in the path of the lava can be warned to leave their homes.
[01:37.99]Unfortunately, we can’t move their homes out of the way and many houses have been covered with lava or burned to the ground.
[01:47.34]When boiling rock erupts from the volcano and crashes back to earth, it causes less damage than you might imagine.
[01:56.79]This is because no one lives near the top of Mount Kilauea where the rocks fall.
[02:03.01]The lava that flows slowly down the mountain causes far more damage because it buries everything in its path under the molten rock.
[02:13.17]However, the eruption itself is really exciting to watch and I’ll never forget my first sight of an eruption.
[02:21.92]It was in the second week after I arrived in Hawaii.
[02:26.16]Having worked hard all day , I went to bed early.
[02:31.12]I was fast asleep when suddenly my bed began shaking and I heard a strange sound, like a railway train passing outside my window.
[02:41.88]Having experienced quite a few earthquakes in Hawaii already, I didn’t take much notice.
[02:48.93]I saw about to go back to sleep when suddenly my bedroom became as bright as day.
[02:55.49]I ran out of the house into the back garden where I could see mount Kilauea in the distance.
[03:03.07]There had been an eruption in the side of the mountain and red hot lava was fountaining hundreds of metres into the air.
[03:11.82]It was an absolutely fantastic sight .
[03:15.89]The day after this eruption I was lucky enough to have a much closer look at it .
[03:22.87]Two other scientists and I were driven up the mountain and dropped as close as possible to the carter that had been formed during the eruption.
[03:32.82]Having earlier collected special clothes from the observatory, we put them on before we went any closer.
[03:40.76]All three of us looked like spacemen .
[03:44.89]we had white protective suits that covered our whole body, helmets , big boots and special gloves.
[03:53.56]It wasn’t very easy to walk in these suits, but we slowly make our way to the edge of the crater and looked down into the red, boiling center.
[04:04.19]The other two climbed down into the crater to collect some lava for later study, but this being my first experience, I stayed at the top and watched them.
[04:15.92]Today , I am just as enthusiastic about my job as the day I first started.
[04:22.40]Having studied volcanoes now for more than twenty years, I am still amazed at their beauty as well as their potential to cause great damage.
[04:33.35]Reading
[04:44.11]THE LAKE OF HEAVEN
[04:48.26]Changbaishan is in Jilin Province, Northeast china.
[04:52.81]Much of this beautiful, mountainous area is thick forest.
[04:57.04]Changbaishan is China’s largest nature reserve and is kept in its natural state for the people of China and visitors from all over the world to enjoy.
[05:07.77]The height of the land varies from 700 metres above sea level to over 2,000 metres and is home to a great diversity of plants and animals .
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