After the fire 大火之後
Firemen had been fighting the forest for nearly three weeks before theycould get it under control. A short time before， great trees had covered thecountryside for miles around. Now， smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winterwas coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages withdestruction， for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause seriousfloods as well. When the fire had at last been put out， the forest authorities orderedseveral tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seedwas sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes hadbeen planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then， however， in many places the grass hadalready taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing therefor centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.
New words andexpressions 生詞和短語
control n. 控制
smoke n. 煙
desolate adj. 荒涼的'
threaten v. 威脅
surrounding adj. 周圍的
destruction n. 破壞，毀滅
flood n. 洪水，水災
authority n. (常用複數)當局
grass-seed n. 草籽
spray v. 噴撒