When storm clouds gather, and the wind howls in anger, the natural reaction for most people is to seek shelter. But some run toward the danger. Photographer Liu Yijing is one of that rare type as he captures nature’s violence.
For the past year, Liu, 21, has traveled about 24,000 kilometers across 11 provinces chasing and recording thunderstorms. From the first signs — a stronger breeze developing into a turbulent (汹涌的) sky and birds fleeing — he prepares for what appears to be a frightening task. In 2021, he took more than 48,000 photos, showing the most violence of Mother Nature.
Liu has received a great deal of recognition for his work. His photos captured a complete supercell (雷暴) structure that occurred in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Aug 22. This image has been picked as the cover photo for the Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, a key publication in its field.
“It is a typical supercell and I still have a vivid memory about how thrilled I felt the moment it formed. While recording, I couldn’t control myself and kept screaming,” he says, adding that the picture and video have spread rapidly on the Internet. The term supercell is even used by meteorologists (气象学家) to describe a type of a lasting thunderstorm that rotates and is usually accompanied by dangerous weather conditions including damaging winds and sometimes tornadoes.
Many social media users nicknamed him “storm chaser”. A Sina Weibo user named Guanwaidelin comments that Liu’s photos and videos show how amazing and powerful nature is and how insignificant humans are. Another called Lucia Wei says that before Liu, storm-chasing photographers were rarely heard of in China and that it is a career for those who are not only brave but also armed with sufficient meteorological knowledge.
【小题1】How does Liu Yijing respond to the approaching storm?| A．He expresses anger. | B．He looks for shelter. |
| C．He takes photos of it. | D．He runs away from it. |
| A．He traveled across the world to record tornadoes. |
| B．He was acknowledged for an image of a supercell. |
| C．He felt thrilled when his works became a hit. |
| D．He described the supercell as a great discovery. |
| A．Boring. | B．Well-paid. | C．Adventurous. | D．Discouraging. |
| A．A supercell going around. | B．A storm showing power. |
| C．A career exploring space. | D．A cameraman chasing storm. |
