2014考研英語備考資料：大火之后

　　2014考研英語備考資料：大火之后

　　After the fire 大火之后

　　Firemen had been fighting the forest for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before， great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now， smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction， for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out， the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then， however， in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.

　　New words and expressions 生詞和短語

　　control n. 控制

　　smoke n. 煙

　　desolate adj. 荒涼的

　　threaten v. 威脅

　　surrounding adj. 周圍的

　　destruction n. 破壞，毀滅

　　flood n. 洪水，水災

　　authority n. (常用復數)當局

　　grass-seed n. 草籽

　　spray v. 噴撒

　　quantity n. 量

　　root n. 根

　　century n. 世紀

　　patch n. 小片

　　blacken v. 變黑，發(fā)暗

　　參考譯文

　　消防隊員們同那場森林大火搏斗了將近3個星期才最后把火勢控制住。就在不久之前，參天大樹還覆蓋著方圓數英里的土地。而現在，發(fā)熱的地面上仍然升騰著煙霧，彌漫在荒涼的山丘上。冬季即將來臨，這些山丘對周圍的村莊具有毀滅性的威脅，因為大雨不僅會沖走土壤，而且還會引起嚴重的水災。在大火最后被撲滅后，森林管理當局訂購了好幾噸一種生長迅速的特殊類型的草籽。飛機把這種草籽大量地撒播在地上。飛機撒播近一個月后，開始下起雨來。然而到那時，很多地方的草已經生了根。一片片的綠草開始出現在這片燒焦的土地上，代替了多少世紀以來一直生長在那里的參天大樹。