Lesson 53

At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California.
终于，消防员们扑灭了加利福尼亚州的一场森林大火。
Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began.
从那时起，他们一直试图查明火灾是如何开始的。
Forest fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away.
森林火灾经常是由人们粗心扔掉的碎玻璃或烟蒂引起的。
Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were not able to find any broken glass.
昨天消防员们仔细地检查了地面，但未能发现任何碎玻璃。
They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire.
他们也非常确定，烟蒂并没有引起这场火灾。
This morning, however, a firemen accidentally discovered the cause.
然而，今天早上，一名消防员偶然发现了起因。
He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000-volt power line.
他注意到了一条蛇的残骸，它被缠绕在一条16,000伏特高压线的电线上。
In this way, he was able to solve the mystery.
以这种方式，他能够解开这个谜团。
The explanation was simple but very unusual.
这个解释很简单，但非常不寻常。
A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires.
一只鸟从地面上叼起了那条蛇，然后把它掉落到了电线上。
The snake then wound itself round the wires.
这条蛇接着缠绕在电线上。
When it did so, it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire.
当它这样做时，它向地面发出了火花，这些火花立即引起了一场火灾。