Give a detailed account of. • the cell the prisoner was j ailed in• the cell the prisoner was j ailed in • the impressions related by the prisoner • the first moments when the blast occurred • what happened to his clothes • the four days before his liberation • his life after the treatment The May 8 eruption of Pelee was not a particularly large one when compared to other volcanic outbreaks: the zone of complete devastation was less that ten square miles. But a set of interlocking circumstances made it one of the most deadly in history. First was the fact that the eruption cloud was highly directional. Unfortunately, Saint-Pierre lay directly in its path and engulfed. Secondly, it was a lateral and ground-hugging eruption cloud that overwhelmed the city. From the moment of its ejection, the nuee ar-dente kept contact with the land until it reached the sea. Its extremely high density made it flow in concentration toward Saint-Pierre rather than rise high into the air and dissipate. The third and most important factor was that Saint-Pierre was not evacuated. If the people had used a little more common sense and forethought, the catastrophe could have been averted. Of course, this is very easy to say after the event. Nuees ardebtes, as such, had never been seen before the Pelean occurrence. But the people seemed to be easily cowed and herded by outside influences.
The combination of these circumstances produced in Pelee the worst volcanic disaster since that of Krakatoa in 1883. And so it was that Saint-Pierre was reduced to rubble and its inhabitants lost. As if this were not enough, on May 20 a second great eruption cloud blasted from the flanks of Pelee and struck the city again. This time, however, there was little left to damage and nothing to kill. If any wrecked shells of buildings were left standing after the first cloud, the second one flattened them. On August 30 the volcano blew its top again, but this time the cloud traveled in a more easterly direction, leveling Morne Rouge and four lesser towns. Almost two thousand more lives were lost. By November of 1902, the final phases of Pelee's eruption cycle were taking place. A spine, or plug, of viscous lava began to rise within the crater of L'Etang Sec. Such a sealing of the conduit and crater is normally the concluding activity of stiff acid, or rhyolitic, lavas and the volcanoes which produce them. In case of the 1902-1903 cycle of Pelee, the spine that was produced was phenomenal in its dimensions. Growing at an average rate of nearly thirty feet per day (though some disintegration was taking place concurrently), it reached a maximum height of 1,020 feet above the crater rim on May 30, 1903. Its diameter at the conduit was five hundred feet. One side of the spine had a smooth polished appearance, with grooves or striations, indicating a plastic molding action as it rose through the conduit. Though the lavas which composed the spine were not fluid enough to flow, they showed incandescence, glowing noticeably at night. As this material cooled, it did so from the outside inward, the center being well insulated. Due to such differential cooling, the surfaces exposed to the elements soon became rigid and cracked. Great chunks of rock broke off the top and sides of the spine, which was eventually reduced to a mass of broken debris. And so ended the eruption cycle of 1902-1903. Ш Suggest how the following could be expressed in Russian: volcanic outbreaks; the zone of complete devastation; a set of interlocking circumstances; a highly directional eruption cloud; a ground-hugging eaiption cloud; kept Contact with the land; made it flow rather than rise; common sense and forethought; the catastrophe could have been averted; as such; the people seemed to be easily cowed and herded; outside influences; political double talk; mistak-. en scientific claims; acknowledged their own fear; acted accordingly; the city was reduced to rubble; there was little left to damage; the second cloud flattened them; leveling the town; phenomenal in its dimensions; growing at an average rate; disintegration was taking place concurrently; the crater rim; not fluid enough to flow; from the outside inward
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Through newspaper editorials, political double talk, and mistaken scientific claims, the townspeople, though worried, had been convinced that the volcano could not hurt them. If they had acknowledged their own fear and acted accordingly, a great many lives would have been saved.
