剑桥雅思10Test4Passage1阅读原文翻译 The megafires of California

剑桥雅思10Test4Passage1阅读原文翻译 The megafires of California

剑桥雅思10 Test4 Passage1阅读原文翻译

第1段

Wildfires are becoming an increasing menace in the western United States, with Southern California being the hardest hit area. There’s a reason fire squads battling more frequent blazes in Southern California are having such difficulty containing the flames, despite better preparedness than ever and decades of experience fighting fires fanned by the ‘Santa Ana Winds’. The wildfires themselves, experts say, are generally hotter, faster, and spread more erratically than in the past.

在美国西部，野火正变得越来越严重，南加州是受打击最严重的区域。尽管准备工作比以往任何时候都要好，并且有数十年对抗“Santa Ana”飓风所煽起的火灾的经验，但在南加州，与更频繁的大火作斗争的消防队却很难控制火灾规模。这是有原因的。专家说，与过去相比，野火本身温度更好，起火更快，传播路线也更加不规则。

第2段

Megafires, also called ‘siege fires’, are the increasingly frequent blazes that burn 500,000 acres or more – 10 times the size of the average forest fire of 20 years ago. Some recent wildfires are among the biggest ever in California in terms of acreage burned, according to state figures and news reports.

超级大火也被称为“围攻火”，是越来越频繁的大火。他们文章来自老烤鸭雅思烧毁了50万英亩甚至更多的土地，是20年前森林火灾平均损毁面积的10倍。根据州数据和新闻报道，就燃烧面积而言，最近的一些野火是加州有史以来最大的火灾。

第3段

One explanation for the trend to more superhot fires is that the region, which usually has dry summers, has had significantly below normal precipitation in many recent years. Another reason, experts say, is related to the century-long policy of the US Forest Service to stop wildfires as quickly as possible. The unintentional consequence has been to halt the natural eradication of underbrush, now the primary fuel for megafires.

超高温火灾越来越多的一种解释是，该地区夏季通常十分干燥。近年来，其降水量大大低于正常水平。专家们说，另一个原因与美国森林服务局长达一个世纪的政策有关。该政策要求尽快扑灭野火。它意外的阻碍了对矮木丛的自然清理，而它们现在成为超级火灾的主要燃料。

第4段

Three other factors contribute to the trend, they add. First is climate change, marked by a 1-degree Fahrenheit rise in average yearly temperature across the western states. Second is fire seasons that on average are 78 days longer than they were 20 years ago. Third is increased construction of homes in wooded areas.

他们补充说，三个其他因素也加剧了这一趋势。首先是气候变化，西部各州的年平均气温升高了1华氏度。其次是火灾季节，平均比20年前长78天。第三是森林地带房屋建筑的增加。

第5段

‘We are increasingly building our homes in fire-prone ecosystems,’ says Dominik Kulakowski, adjunct professor of biology at Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Worcester, Massachusetts. ‘Doing that in many of the forests of the western US is like building homes on the side of an active volcano.’

“我们越来越多地把自己的家建在火灾易发的生态系统中”，马萨诸塞州伍斯特市克拉克大学研究生院生物学教授Dominik Kulakowski说，“在美国西部的许多森里中这样做，就仿佛是把家安在了活火山旁边”。

第6段

In California, where population growth has averaged more than 600,000 a year for at least a decade, more residential housing is being built. ‘What once was open space is now residential homes providing fuel to make fires burn with greater intensity,’ says Terry McHale of the California Department of Forestry firefighters’ union. ‘With so much dryness, so many communities to catch fire, so many fronts to fight, it becomes an almost incredible job.’

至少十年来，加利福尼亚平均每年人口增长超过600,000。更多的住宅被建造起来。“曾经的开阔地带现在被住宅所占据，它们为火灾提供燃料，使其燃烧的更为剧烈”，加利福尼亚森林消防工会的Terry Mchale说，“这么干燥的天气，这么多的社区着火，这么多的战线需要扑灭，这几乎是一项不可能完成的工作”。

第7段

That said, many experts give California high marks for making progress on preparedness in recent years, after some of the largest fires in state history scorched thousands of acres, burned thousands of homes, and killed numerous people. Stung in the past by criticism of bungling that allowed fires to spread when they might have been contained, personnel are meeting the peculiar challenges of neighborhood—and canyon—hopping fires better than previously, observers say.

话虽如此，在一些加州历史上最大的火灾烧焦了数千亩土地，烧毁了数千所房屋，并吞噬了无数生命之后，许多专家对加利福尼亚州近年来的备灾工作仍然给出了很高的评价。观察家说，相关人员过去曾因失败而饱受批评，因为他们让本可以受到控制的火灾四处蔓延，但现在他们更好地应对了奇特的挑战，火灾在住宅区和峡谷中隔空蔓延。

第8段

State promises to provide more up-to-date engines, planes, and helicopters to fight fires have been fulfilled. Firefighters’ unions that in the past complained of dilapidated equipment, old fire engines, and insufficient blueprints for fire safety are now praising the state’s commitment, noting that funding for firefighting has increased, despite huge cuts in many other programs. ‘We are pleased that the current state administration has been very proactive in its support of us, and [has] come through with budgetary support of the infrastructure needs we have long sought,’ says Mr. McHale of the firefighters’ union.

州政府关于提供更新的车辆、飞机和直升机以对抗火灾的承诺都已兑现。过去抱怨设备损坏，消防车老旧，以及缺乏足够消防安全蓝图的消防员工会，现在则对州政府的投入表示赞扬。他们注意到，尽管许多其他计划被大幅度削减，但用于消防的资金却有所增加。消防工会的McHale说：“我们感到高兴的是，现任州政府一直非常积极地支持我们，并且已经为我们长期以来寻求的基础设备需求提供了预算支持”。

第9段

Besides providing money to upgrade the fire engines that must traverse the mammoth state and wind along serpentine canyon roads, the state has invested in better command-and-control facilities as well as in the strategies to run them. ‘In the fire sieges of earlier years, we found that other jurisdictions and states were willing to offer mutual-aid help, but we were not able to communicate adequately with them,’ says Kim Zagaris, chief of the state’s Office of Emergency Services Fire and Rescue Branch. After a commission examined and revamped communications procedures, the statewide response ‘has become far more professional and responsive,’ he says. There is a sense among both government officials and residents that the speed, dedication, and coordination of firefighters from several states and jurisdictions are resulting in greater efficiency than in past ‘siege fire’ situations.

除了提供资金以更新那些必须穿越全州、并在峡谷蜿蜒的道路上行驶的车辆以外，该州还投资了更好的指挥和控制设施以及操作它们的策略。州紧急事务办公室火灾与救援分部的主任Kim Zagaris说：“在前几年的火灾中，我们发现其他辖区和州愿意提供互相帮助，但我们无法与他们进行充分的沟通”。在委员会审查并修改了通信程序之后，全州的响应“变得更加专业和迅速”。政府官员和居民都意识到，与过去“围攻火灾”相比，来自多个州和辖区的消防员的速度、投入，和相互协调带来了更高的效率。

第10段

In recent years, the Southern California region has improved building codes, evacuation procedures, and procurement of new technology. ‘I am extraordinarily impressed by the improvements we have witnessed,’ says Randy Jacobs, a Southern California-based lawyer who has had to evacuate both his home and business to escape wildfires. ‘Notwithstanding all the damage that will continue to be caused by wildfires, we will no longer suffer the loss of life endured in the past because of the fire prevention and firefighting measures that have been put in place,’ he says.

近年来，南加州地区已经改善了建筑规范，疏散程序和新技术的采购。“我对我们所见证到的改进印象十分深刻”，南加州的一名律师，Randy Jacobs说。他曾经两次撤离自己的家和办公室以逃避野火。“尽管野火必定会继续造成的损害，但由于采取了防火和消防措施，我们将不再遭受过去遭受的生命损失”。

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