A Raging Debate 燃烧吧，火苗！？
- 详细资料
- 创建于 2002年11月15日
- 最后更新于 2024年5月25日
- 发布于 2011年5月16日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：363
课文朗读
课文讲解
Gary and Elizabeth are hiking on Yangmingshan: 盖瑞和伊丽莎白正在阳明山健行。
G: Have you heard about all those wildfires in the States this year?
你有没有听说过美国今年那几场森林大火？
E: Yeah. It’s terrible, isn’t it? All those beautiful trees up in smoke, not to mention the damages to property.
有啊。那很恐怖，不是吗？美丽的树木灰飞烟灭，更别说对财产的损害了。
G: I agree about the loss of property, but not about the trees.
我同意财产上会有损失，但对树木来说并不至于。
E: What? We’re talking about trees that were hundreds-of-years old. They’re irreplaceable!
什么？我们在说的是树龄好几百岁的树耶。它们是无可取代的！
G: I’m not arguing about their value; I’m just saying that wildfires can do forests more good than harm.
我不是在争论它们的价值；我只是说，森林大火对森林而言可能利多于弊。
E: Look, I know that jack pine need fire to release their seeds, but how could a raging inferno possible help a stand of ancient sequoias?
听好，我知道短叶松需要火来释出种子，但是一片茫茫火海怎么可能会对一丛生长中的古红杉有所帮助呢？
G: Well, for one, charcoal produced by forest fires improves soil quality, by absorbing tannins and other growth-inhibiting agents.
嗯，举个例，森林大火生成的木炭，会吸收单宁酸及其它抑制生长的作用剂，来改善土壤质量。
E: That may be, but all things in moderation — the States has had over six million acres of forest scorched this year; that’s double the ten-year average.
或许如此，但事情总要有个限度吧？美国今年有超过六百万亩的森林烧毁；那是十年平均的两倍耶！
G: Because we’ve adopted an overprotective attitude! If we’d just allowed small, controlled fires, there wouldn’t be so much fuel on the ground, and wildfires wouldn’t be getting so out of control.
那是由于我们采取过度保护的态度造成的！如果我们允许小规模、一切在控制之内的火灾发生，土地上就不会有那么多燃料，森林火灾也就不会一发不可收拾了。
E: Prescribed burning’s a thorny issue, so maybe we should just agree to disagree. We don’t want our debate to rage out of control, do we?
「计划式焚林」是个棘手的议题，因此我们也许该包容彼此的歧见，停止争辩。我们并不想让辩论激烈到不可收拾的地步，对吧？
－by Michael Costello
Vocabulary
单词发音
raging [`redʒɪŋ] adj.〔感情〕强烈的
(go) up in smoke 被烧光 burning
irreplaceable [͵ɪrɪˋplesəb!] adj.〔因特别或贵重而〕独一无二的; 不可代替的
jack pine 短叶松
inferno [ɪnˋfɝno] n.【文】熊熊烈火﹐ 火海
stand [stænd] n. (一)丛 a group or growth of tall plants or trees
sequoia [sɪˋkwɔɪə] n.（产于美国加州的）红杉
charcoal [ˋtʃɑr͵kol] n. 木炭，炭
tannin [ˋtænɪn] n.【化】丹宁酸；丹宁；鞣酸
in moderation [͵mɑdəˋreʃən] 适度地; 有节制地 within moderate or reasonable limits
scorch [skɔrtʃ] v. 烧焦，烤焦
fuel [ˋfjʊəl] n. 燃料
prescribed [prɪˋskraɪbd] adj. 规定的
thorny [ˋθɔrnɪ] adj. 棘手的；麻烦的；多障碍的；引起争议的
Sentence of the Day
They’re fighting fire with fire.
他们以火攻火，以毒攻毒。
fight fire with fire 以火攻火，以毒攻毒