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剑桥雅思10阅读原文及参考译文【TEST4】
PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
The megafires of California
Drought, housing expansion, and oversupply of tinder make for bigger, hotter fires in the western United States
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.
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.
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.
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.
‘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.’
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.’
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.
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.
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.
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.
Passage 1参考译文：
加利福尼亚州的特大火灾
干旱，房屋的大量扩建，易燃物的过度供给导致美国西部发生更大更热的火灾。
森林大火正在成为美国西部不断增大的威胁，而加利福尼亚州南部是受影响最严重的地区。加利福尼亚州南部大火愈加频发，尽管与其对抗的救火队有着相比以前更为充分的准备和多年消除由“圣安娜之风”煽动起的火灾的经验，他们还是在控制大火上遇到了困难。这是有原因的。专家表示，总的来说，现在的森林大火比过去溫度更高，蔓延得更快，扩散踪迹更为飘忽不定。
特大火灾，也称为“围攻火”，是指近来频发的能够烧毁万英亩及以上土地的大火，这种大火烧毁的土地面积相当于20年前一般森林大火破坏面积的10倍。据州政府统计和新闻报道显示，最近几场森林大火已被列入加利福尼亚州有史以来在烧毁面积上的最重大型火灾。
关于频发超级火灾这一趋势，其中一个解释便是该地区通常夏天干燥，且近几年降水量远远低于正常水平。专家表示，另外一个原因是与美国林务局一项长达一个世纪的政策有关。该政策规定发生森林大火时应尽快阻止大火。由此产生了无意识的后果，即是：中断了灌木丛自然的根除过程，现在致使灌木丛成为特大火灾的主要燃料。
他们补充道，还有其他三个因素导致该趋势。首先是气候的变化，整个西部地区平均每年温度上升1 华氏摄氏度。第二点是火险季节相比20年前平均延长了78天。第三，是在多树地区房屋的不断扩建。
“我们在易燃的生态系统中不断地建造我们的房屋，”马萨诸塞州伍斯特市克拉克大学地理研究生院的副教授多米尼克?库拉考斯基表示，“在美国西部大多数森林中这样做，如同在一个活火山的边上建房。”
至少十多年来，加利福尼亚州平均每年增加60多万人口，越来越多的住宅正在建造当中。“曾一度空旷的地带现在是高密度的住宅屋群，这为火灾的发生提供了燃料。”加利福尼亚州林业消防员联盟部的特里?麦克黑尔指出，“这么严重的干旱，这么多可能发生大火的社区，这么多需要去努力的方面，消防已成为一项不可思议的工作。”
据称，有史以来最大的几场火灾烤焦了成千上万英亩的土地，烧毁了数以万计的房屋，烧死大量的居民之后，许多专家给予了加利福尼亚州相当高的评价，因其近几年来在消防准备工作中取得的进步。观察家们表示，这些火灾本该受到控制却依旧蔓延开来，相关部门过去被严厉指责为工作不力。如今，他们正面临着来自周边地区和峡谷的前所未有的巨大挑战。
州政府已经实现了关于提供更多先进的消防车、飞机和直升机以对抗火灾的承诺。消防员联盟在过去曾抱怨破旧的设备、陈旧的消防车和数量不足的消防安全蓝图。现如今称赞州政府的允诺行为。 尽管消防资金并未增加，政府却大量削减其他项目的资金以支援消防建设。“我们很高兴现任加利福尼亚州的行政部门非常积极主动地支持我们，同时已经通过了我们渴望已久的关于满足基础设施需求的预算支持方案。”消防员联盟的麦克黑尔先生表示。
除了提供资金以升级需横穿辽阔大州和沿着坑堤的峡谷道路而上的消防车外，州政府还已经投资建设更好的指挥与控制设施和相关策略来运作它们。“早些年在消防上，我们发现其他的地区和州政府愿意提供相互援助，但我们没能和它们做好充分沟通。”该州的火突应急服务和援救部首席官Kim Zagaris说道，“在委员会审查和修改沟通流程后，全州的反应变得更为专业和迅速。”在政府官员和居民中有这样一种共识，即相比以前遇到的特大火灾的时候，来自不同州和地区的消防员的高速运作、奉献和合作正带来更高的效率。
在近几年，加利福尼亚州南部地区已经在建筑规范、疏散程序和新技术的引入上有所改善提高。“我对我们已见证的进步有着深刻的印象，”加利福尼亚州南部的律师兰迪雅克布说道，他曾不得不撤出他的家和生意以逃离森林大火。“尽管由森林大火引起的损失还将持续，但我们不会像过去那样蒙受生命损失，因为火灾预防和消防措施已经到位。”他说道。
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