雅思阅读文章：加勒比海的绿宝石_雅思英语阅读

雅思阅读文章：加勒比海的绿宝石

　　Sir George Martin may have abandoned Air Studios but he didnt desert the island. He owns Olveston House, where many of the artists recording at Air Studios stayed, and though its now run as a charming guesthouse and one of the most popular restaurants on the island most of the time, he still stays there occasionally. On the walls hang photographs of Air Studios by Linda McCartney.

　　But of course, the phenomenon that really put Montserrat on the map was the eruption of the Soufrire Hills volcano. Long dormant, it began to stir in the early Nineties and erupted in 1995. There have been regular ash falls and pyroclastic flows ever since, burning then burying Plymouth, the capital city, as well as the islands only golf course, its beach resorts, its docking harbour and its old airport under many feet of ash, mud and stone.

　　Nearly half of Montserrats population has emigrated since that first eruption; of those who remain, many thousands had to abandon their homes and relocate farther north. Today, two thirds of the island mostly lush, fertile land has been declared an Exclusion Zone because it lies in the likely path of future flows. Stern notices guard the edges of the zone, promising that anyone entering without authorisation will be prosecuted.

　　To find out more, I go to the Montserrat Volcano Observatory on the edge of the Exclusion Zone. In the visitors centre I watch a fascinating film that includes footage of Plymouth before and after the eruption. First I see a vibrant town, with shops and banks and people going about their daily lives; the next moment Im looking at a few indistinct shapes poking from the ash.