1、 53.Hot Snake 触电的蛇At last firemen have put out a big forestfire in California.Since then,they havebeen trying to find out how the fire began.Forest fires are often caused by brokenglass or by cigarette ends which peoplecarelessly throw away.Yesterday the fire-men examined the ground carefully,butwer
2、e not able to find any broken glass.They were also quite sure that a cigaretteend did not start the fire.This morning,however,a fireman accidentally dis-covered the cause.He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000-volt power line.In this way,he was able to
3、 solve themystery.The explanation was simple butvery unusual.A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and thendropped it on to the wires.The snake then wound itself round the wires.Whenit did so,it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire.New words and expressions
4、hot adj.带电的，充电的 a hot wire高压电线 热的 麻辣烫：hot-hot-hot 辣鸡翅：hot-wings hot-line:热线 hot topic:热门话题 hot potato:烫手山芋（喻指棘手的问题）hot dog:热狗 firemann.消防队员 mn firemen 复数 mencausev.引起；n.原因 n:What is the cause of failure?v:cause sth.:引起麻烦 What causes the failure?cause sb to do sth.:导致某人做某事 Illness caused him to lose
5、the game.Because 因为 be cause examinev.检查 examine sth.examination n.physical examination 身体检查 accidentallyadv.意外地，偶然地 accident:n.事故 accident-accidental-accidentally I met my favorite singer star accidentally.remainsn.尸体，残骸 dead body corpse k:ps remain:遗迹；剩余物 wiren.电线 electric wire voltn.伏特（电压单位）power
6、 line电力线 solvev.解决 solve the mystery(迷)solve the problem mysterymistri n.谜,神秘 snatchv.抓住 snatch up 夺取，抓取 sparkn.火花 electric spark 电火花 Questions 1.What are forest fires often caused by?2.What caused the fire?1.Forest fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly
7、throw away.2.A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires.The snake then wound itself round the wires.When it did so,it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire.Language points:1.put out a fire:扑灭火 Firemen tried to put out the fire.2
8、.Since then,they have been trying to find out how the fire began.since then:从那时起到现在为止have been doing 现在完成进行时Since last month,I have been trying to lose weight.find out 查明 find out the truth 宾语从句 be able to do 能够做某事 can I am able to paly basketball/speak English.in this way:以这种方式只有以这种方式才能解决问题。Only in
9、 this way can you solve this problem.Forest fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away.fires 复数，泛指许多火灾 broken glass碎玻璃 break glass 不可数 a glass 一个玻璃杯glasses 眼镜 Do you know the man wearing glasses over there?cigarette ends香烟头 which 引导定语从句，在从句中充当宾语 th
10、at What can we do to avoid forest fire?1.awareness 意识 2.from small things 3.from ourselves 3.call on 呼吁54.Sticky Fingers 粘糊的手指After breakfast,I sent the children toschool and then I went to market.It wasstill early when I returned home.Thechildren were at school,my husband wasat work and the house w
11、as quiet.So Idecided to make some tarts for tea.In ashort time I was busy mixing butter andflour and my hands were soon coveredwith sticky pastry.At exactly that mo-ment,the telephone rang.Nothing couldhave been more annoying.I picked up thereceiver between two sticky fingers andwas dismayed when I
12、recognized thevoice of Mrs Bates.It took me ten minutesto persuade her to ring back later.At lastI hung up the receiver.What a mess!There was pastry on my fingers,on the telephone,and on the door-knobs.I hadno sooner got back to the kitchen than the door-bell rang loud enough to wakethe dead.This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registeredletter!New words and expressions
