新概念 2 L53 Hot snakes 触电的蛇

词汇

  • hot
  • a hot meal
  • hot pot 火锅（hot 辣）
  • a hot girl
  • fireman n. 消防员
    • 带有性别歧视，改用 firefighter <美>消防队员
    • sportman 改用 athlete
    • policeman 改用 police officer
    • postman 改用 postperson
    • flight attendant 空中服务人员
  • cause n. 起因（消极性）
    • the cause of the fire
    • Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer.
    • vt. 引起，导致
      • Smoking causes cancer.
  • examine vt. 检查（更多的细节，比如身体）
    • check vt. 检查（核实，对/错）
  • accidentally adv. 意外地，偶然地，无意中
    • I discovered his secret accidentally
    • do sth accidentally
      = do sth by accident
      = happen to do 碰巧
  • remains n. 残骸
    • The remains of a meal. 剩饭
  • wire n. 电线
    • electric wire
    • a telephone wire
    • wireless internet
    • wireless communication
  • solve vt. 解决 = work out
    • problem
    • question
    • word puzzle
    • a crime
  • mystery n. 谜，奥秘
    • The mystery of life.
    • mysterious a. 神秘的
  • snatch vt. （猛地）抓起，抢
    • The thief snatched her purse and ran.

原文

At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California. Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began. Forest fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away. Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were not able to find any broken glass. They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire. This morning, however, a fireman accidentally discovered the cause. He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000-volt power line. In this way, he was able to solve the mystery. The explanation was simple but very unusual. A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires. The snake then wound itself round the wires. When it did so, it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire.

参考译文：

防队员们终于扑灭了加利福尼亚的一场森林大火。从那时起，他们一直试图找出起火的原因。森林火灾时常由破碎的玻璃或人们随手扔掉的香烟头引起。昨天，消防队员仔细查看了地面，但未能发现碎玻璃。他们还十分肯定火灾也不是由烟头引起的。然而今天上午，一个消防队员偶然发现了起火的原因。他发现了缠绕在 16,000 伏高压线上的一条死蛇。就这样，他解开了起火之谜。解释很简单，却异乎寻常。一只鸟把蛇从地上抓起来，然后把它扔到了电线上。于是蛇就缠住了几根电线。当它这样做时，把火花送到了地面，这些火花立刻引起了一场大火。

  • 生火：make a fire
  • 着火：catch fire
  • 点火，纵火：set sth on fire
  • 灭火：put on the fire
  • throw away 丢弃 put away 收拾
  • wind-wound-wound 缠绕，盘绕
    • wind the wool into a ball
    • a winding river
    • wind one’s away 蜿蜒流向
  • 构词法：communicate - communication
    • act action
    • decorate decoration
    • produce production
    • introduce introduction
    • explain explanation（没有 i）
    • pronounce pronunciation（没有 o）
    • decide decision
    • permit permission