新概念英語第二冊
Lesson 53 Hot snake
1 . This morning, however, a firemen accidentally discovered the cause.然而今天上午，一個消防隊員偶然發現了起火的原因。
2 . The explanation was simple but very unusual.解釋很簡單，卻異乎尋常。
3 . At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California.消防隊員們終於撲滅了加利福尼亞的一場森林大火。
4 . They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire.他們還十分肯定火災也不是由煙頭引起的。
5 . He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000-volt power line.他發現了纏繞在16，000伏高壓線上的一條死蛇。
6 . A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires.一隻鳥把蛇從地上抓起來，然後把它扔到了電線上。
7 . Forest fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away.森林火災時常由破碎的玻璃或人們隨手扔掉的香煙頭引起。
8 . In this way, he was able to solve the mystery.就這樣，他解開了起火之謎。
9 . Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were not able to find any broken glass.昨天，消防隊員仔細查看了地面，但未能發現碎玻璃。
10 . The snake then wound itself round the wires.於是蛇就纏住了幾根電線。
11 . When it did so, it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire.當它這樣做時，把火花送到了地面，這些火花立刻引起了一場大火。
12 . Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began.從那時起，他們一直試圖找出起火的原因。