新概念lesson 24（每日一读）

Lesson 53Hot snake触电的蛇First listen and then answer the question.听录音，然后回答以下问题。

What caused the fire?

起火的原因是什么？

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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 firemen 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.

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触电的蛇消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。

New words and expressions 生词和短语

hot adj. 带电的，充电的

hot热的, hot-hot-hot : 麻辣烫

hot-wings : 辣鸡翅

hot-tempered : 火暴(脾气)的 temper[ˈtempə(r)] n 脾气 v. (冶金)回火、锻炼, 调和, 调节

hot line : 热线

hot topic : 热门话题

hot cake : 热蛋糕

hot dog : 热狗

It sells like a hot cake/cakes 表示一个东西的畅销, 热销

hot新鲜的

best seller : 畅销的东西

hot potato棘手的问题

hot news最热点的新闻

hot snake触电的蛇

fireman n. 消防队员

hydrant [ˈhaɪdrənt] n.消防栓, 消防龙头

fire extinguisher : 灭火器 extinguisher [ɪkˈstɪŋɡwɪʃə(r)] n.熄灭者, 灭火器

extinguish＝put out : 灭火cause v. 引起； n. 原因

cause sth : 引起麻烦

Carelessness causes accidents. 粗心导致事故

Pride causes failure骄傲使人失败 failure [ˈfeɪljə(r)]

cause sb to do sth : 引起某人做某事, 导致某人做某事

Illness caused him to lose his temper (lose his temper 发火)

because : 因为 be cause

reason : 理由, cause : 原因

cause : 强调事情发生的直接原因(一个)

reason : 其他各种的理由(很多个)

★examine v 检查

examine the soil

check : 核实, 核对

examine v. 检查

accidentally adv. 意外地，偶然地

accident－》accidental－》accidentally

accident : 事故

unexpectedly : 出乎意料地(更趋向于 “意外” 的意思)

remains n. 尸体，残骸

remains指dead body

wire n. 电线volt n. 伏特（电压单位）power line 电力线solve v. 解决

solve the mystery

solve the problem

mystery n. 谜

mystery(无法接受地, 解释不了的)

snatch v. 抓住

catch : 如抓鱼

hold : 握着

snatch : (突然抓起来)强调动作的突然性

seize : 抓住(用力)seize my arm

spark n. 电火花

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