新西兰英语 723 Australian Bush Fires

 　　Once again, Australia is experiencing terrible bush fires. The temperatures are in the 40s in many places and could reach 50 degrees next weekend north of Adelaide in South Australia. Strong winds help to spread the fires. The leaves from eucalyptus¹ trees contain oil and they burn easily. In fact, many native trees like eucalyptus need fire to open the seed pods for germination² so fires are common in Australia.

　　Today, about 90% of New South Wales, including Sydney, is in danger from bush fires. About 1,300 fire-fighters are working in extreme heat.

　　Although most of the fires in Tasmania are under control, new fires start easily if the wind increases. Two crews of rural³ fire-fighters from New Zealand travelled to Tasmania to give the Tasmanian fire-fighters a rest.

　　Four years ago, New Zealand helped in the state of Victoria when fires around Melbourne killed more than 200 people.

　　Listen to March 4th 2009 and February 9th 2009 to hear more about this.

　　Most people have air conditioning in their homes but it does not work very well in those temperatures. They go to the movie theatres or shopping malls which have better air conditioning. Outside the air is polluted from the fires.

　　Vocabulary

　　?eucalyptus trees – also called gum⁴ trees

　　?germination – the seed starts to grow

　　?extreme heat – much higher temperature than usual

　　?under control – this is an important idiom to learn

　　?crew – a group of people working together

　　?rural – in the country not the city

1 eucalyptus   

n.桉树，桉属植物

参考例句：

• Eucalyptus oil is good for easing muscular aches and pains.桉树油可以很好地缓解肌肉的疼痛。
• The birds rustled in the eucalyptus trees.鸟在桉树弄出沙沙的响声。

2 germination   

n.萌芽，发生；萌发；生芽；催芽

参考例句：

• At the onset of germination, the hypocotyl elongates rapidly by cell enlargement. 萌发开始时，下胚轴依靠细胞增大而迅速伸长。 来自辞典例句
• Excessive moisture is unfavourable for soybean germination. 水分过多对于大豆萌发是不利的。 来自辞典例句

3 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

4 gum   

n.牙龈；口香糖；树胶

参考例句：

• We can stick these pictures into the book with gum.我们可用胶水把这几张画粘贴在书里。
• Americans like to chew gum.美国人喜欢嚼口香糖。