Unit 16

Text I

The Story of an Eyewitness

Pre-reading Question

What do you think is the most destructive natural disaster?

Structural Analysis

Part I (paragraphs 1-3):

gives a brief introduction to what happened in San Francisco in 1906.

Part II (paragraphs 4-13):

gives a detailed description of what the author saw on Wednesday morning, afternoon and night.

Part III (paragraphs 14-16):

tells the reader what the author witnessed on the next day.

Paraphrase 1

Nothing remains of it but memories and fringe of dwelling houses on its outskirts.

Except for some dwelling houses o its outskirts, San Francisco is no more in the material world though it is still lingering in the memories of its dwellers.

Paraphrase 2

… there was no withstanding the onrush of the flames.

… it was very difficult or even impossible to resist the advancement of the flames.

Paraphrase 3

An enumeration of the deeds of heroism would stock a library and bankrupt the Carnegie medal fund.

The courageous and brave deeds in the firefighting would fill up a library if related in writing and exhaust the Carnegie medal fund if rewarded.

Paraphrase 4

Sometimes a whole family was harnessed to a carriage or delivery wagon that was weighed down with their possessions.

Sometimes all members of a family fastened themselves with straps to a carriage or delivery wagon that was heavily loaded with their possessions.

And against this wall of flame, silhouetted sharply, were two United States cavalrymen sitting their horses, calmly watching.

Two soldiers sat astride on their horse and calmly watched the conflagration, their shapes contrasting sharply with the wall of flame when seen from their back.

More Exercises

The virus threw the whole computer

system . A of smile showed at the corners of

her mouth. He felt an of shame.

More Exercises

The virus threw the whole computer

system out of gear. A of smile showed at the corners of h

er mouth. He felt an of shame.

More Exercises

The virus threw the whole computer

system out of gear. A flicker of smile showed at the corners of

her mouth. He felt an of shame.

More Exercises

The virus threw the whole computer

system out of gear. A flicker of smile showed at the corners of h

er mouth. He felt an onrush of shame.

More Exercises

The fruit the branches of the tree.

Don’t out hard words against me. His horse was when a day’s hunti

ng was over. It took hours for the ruins to out.

More Exercises

The fruit weighed down the branches of the tree.

Don’t out hard words against me. His horse was when a day’s hunti

ng was over. It took hours for the ruins to out.

More Exercises

The fruit weighed down the branches of the tree.

Don’t fling out hard words against me. His horse was when a day’s hunti

ng was over. It took hours for the ruins to out.

More Exercises

The fruit weighed down the branches of the tree.

Don’t fling out hard words against me. His horse was played out when a day’s hunti

ng was over. It took hours for the ruins to out.

More Exercises

The fruit weighed down the branches of the tree.

Don’t fling out hard words against me. His horse was played out when a day’s hunti

ng was over. It took hours for the ruins to smoulder out.

Dictation

The first time I was personally introduced to lightning, I was flying between Puerto Rico and the American continent. Had I not been in an airplane, I might not be alive now to describe the experience.

We had just ridden through three minutes of violent storm. As I was beginning to wonder how much longer the wings of the airplane could stand the terrible tossing, suddenly it happened. The inside of the plane lit up like an electric light.

The light lasted less than a thousandth of a second, yet huge green sparks jumped all over the room. The radioman was knocked to the floor, and the hair on the back of his head stood out stiffly.

The lightning bolt had evidently struck the trailing wire of our radio and followed it to the tail of the airplane, then on to the radio itself, which was severely damaged.

The end!