1. Nature (1)

1) Oh no! It's starting to rain.

哦，糟了！开始下雨了！

“好像就要下雨了”是说做 It seems likely to rain.

“已经下了一段时间”说做 It's raining.

2) The thunder claps really scare the children.

打雷（的声音）真的会吓坏小孩子的。

clap 用作动词时是拍手之意，名词则指“轰”的响声，thunder claps 是雷鸣。

scare 是“startle, frighten”之意，在这里是作 frighten 之意解。

Don't be scared. 不必怕。这一句在日常生活中经常使用。

3) Look! Lightening has struck the tree and it's on fire.

瞧！闪电划下来，引燃了树木。

促人注意时，正如同“Look! What you've done!”（瞧！你干的好事！）一般，常用“Look!”

4) The water has risen over the riverbank.

洪水溢过了防堤。

The river is rising. 则指河水涨高了。br />

5) The flood has left many people homeless.

许多人因洪水而失去了家园。

6) These buildings are supposed to be earth quakeproof.

这些建筑物是耐震建筑才对。

“...proof”是“耐～”的意思。fireproof building 是“耐火建筑”。

7) One woman, in Peru, was saved from an earthquake by lying between two mattresses¹.

秘鲁的一位妇女，躲在垫子之间从地震中死里逃生。

save from 是指从危险、灾难、毁誉等之中获救。

8) Hawaiians are used to the rumblings of the volcano.

夏威夷的人已经习惯于火山的爆发声了。

9) In Arizona, the stars seem very bright.

在亚利桑那州，星星看起来格外明亮。

seem 和 look like, appear 一样，指“外表是～”之意。