中石油2016通用英语选读课文59ForestFires-aMajorDisaster森林大火-可怕的灾难.doc

59. Forest Fires: a Major Disaster 森林大火：可怕的灾难 1.The United States Forest Service林业局 defines a wildfire野火，山火 as “any fire that burns uncontrolled in vegetativeadj植物的 or associated flammableadj易燃的，可燃性的 matter,”and it divides the causes of wildfire into nine general categories:lightning闪电,campfire篝火,smoking,debrisn碎片，残骸 burning(fires from clearing land or from burning trash垃圾，rangen山脉，范围，动植物分布区，stubblen断株，茬，牧场，meadow草地牧场,rights-of-way通行权，开路权，破路权,logging slashn采伐剩余物，森林采伐遗迹,etc.),incendiaryadj纵火的，煽动的n纵火犯，煽动者(fires willfullyadv任性固执地，蓄意地 set),equipment use(except railroad),railroad,children(under 12),and miscellaneous其他adj混杂的. 1.美国林务局如此定义山火：“任何在有植物或是相关的易燃物品上燃烧并无法控制的火灾”。山火的原因被分为九类：闪电、篝火、抽烟、废物燃烧（为了清除土地上的树木，或是燃烧垃圾、烧荒、开路、燃烧植物断株和砍伐剩余物等而引起的大火）、纵火（故意所为）、设备使用（不包括铁路火车）、铁路、儿童（12岁以下）以及其它。 2.Wildfires in this country occur at the rate of hundreds per day,and they destroy tens of millions of acres英亩 of productive肥沃的，多产的 land in any given year.Direct damage直接损失 to timber木材 and property特性，财产 is reckoned in计入，将…计算在内 the hundreds of millions of dollars per year,but no monetary value币值，货币价值 can be assigned指定的，赋值的 to the loss of human life and of wildlife that often accompanies伴随…同时发生，陪伴 wildfires. 2.美国每天都有几百起的森林火灾发生，烧毁了几百万公顷的肥沃土地，对于伐木业和财产造成的损失每年高达几百万美元，然而它对人类和野生动物造成的生命损失是无法用金钱来衡量。 Government statistics统计 for a typical five-year period周期 are both interesting and revealingadj有启迪作用的.They can be broken down to show many aspects of the wildfire problem,among其中 them two which are especially significant重要:the leading causes of wildfire and the total acreagen英亩数，面积 burned by wildfire. 3.官方以五年为周期进行统计，其结果很有趣，也揭示了一些问题。这些数字可以从多个方面展示森林大火的问题，其中有两点非常关键：森林火灾的主要原因以及火灾烧毁的土地面积。 4.The two leading causes of wildfire,by regional groups,are as follows: Pacific Group — lightning 22%;miscellaneous 18% Rocky Mountain Group — lightning 40%;debris burning 12% North Central Group — debris burning 32%;incendiary 20% Eastern Group — children 27%;incendiary 25% Southern Group — incendiary39%;debris burning 26% 4.森林火