Lesson 14 After the fire
大火之后

一、词汇部分
1.control/kənˈtroʊl/ n. 控制
词根学习：contr相反＋ roll
扩展：roll up one’s sleeves

2.smoke/smoʊk/ n. 烟
例句：Can I bum a smoke?
扩展：lighter
扩展：smoking hot

3.desolate/ˈdes.əl.ət/ adj. 荒凉的
词汇助记：de-+ sol- 单独＋ate

4.threaten/ˈθret.ən/ v. 威胁
例句：Don’t try to threaten me.

5.surrounding /səˈraʊnd/ adj.周围的
6.destruction/dɪˈstrʌk.ʃən/ n. 破坏，毁灭
同源词：construction

7.flood/flʌd/ n. 洪水，水灾
扩展： flood into 涌入

8.authority/əˈθɔːr.ə.t̬i/ n. （常用复数）当局

9.grass-seed n. 草籽
10.spray/spreɪ/ v. 喷撒
扩展：sprayer
扩展：dispenser

11.quantity/ˈkwɑːn.t̬ə.t̬i/ n. 量
扩展：quality

12.root/ruːt/ n. 根
13.century/ˈsen.tʃər.i/ n. 世纪
14.patch/pætʃ/ n. 小片
15.blacken/ˈblæk.ən/ v. 变黑，发暗

文章讲解

Firemen had been fighting the forest for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.

文章精讲：

1.Firemen had been fighting the forest for nearly three weeksbefore they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around.

1)知识点1:完成进行时
搭配：have been doing sth表示最近一段时间一直做某事
例句：I’ve learning Chinese for the past two months and if you throw me to China now, I think I’ll survive.

备注：fight for something 努力争取
例句：If you want something, you got to fight for it. If you want it bad, you got to fight hard.

备注：have a fight 打架，吵架
例句：Laura wants to take a trip to Japan this month, but I don’t have the time to go with her. So she got angry and we had a fight.

备注：have a falling out 和某人生气不说话了

2)知识点2:under control在控制之中

例：Don’t worry. Everything’s under control.
扩展：out of control 失控

备注： under the name +名字
例句：Hi, I’d like to check in please. I made a reservation under the name 刘奇文。

2.Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well.

Rise/raise

Rise –不及物动词／give rise to 导致 = result in
Raise –及物动词

Peter fell asleep while driving. His carelessness gave rise to the car accident.

1)知识点1:be + 短暂性动词ing
例句：Our final is coming. We don’t have time to party any more. We all got to hit the books.
例句：We’re leaving for LA in a week.

备注： come up to someone 走到某人跟前
例句：I don’t like him at all. I don’t want to talk to him. But he just came up to me and said hi. So we just chatted a bit and then I made up an excuse to leave.

2)知识点2:not only…but…as well
例句：Peter is not only smart but also very rich. I think he definitely is your type.

备注：for连词＋句子

3.The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.

1)知识点1:by then

by +时间点——－完成时间


2)知识点2:定语从句
In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.

课外扩展阅读：

What is the hardest truth you had to accept that made you stronger?


Often, you have to be a jerk to get things done.
or
People will respect you more if you don’t try to spare their feelings.
I was always the nice guy while growing up. I didn’t want to argue with anyone. If I felt friction with someone, I just avoided them. I tried my best to make everyone happy.
I made it all the way to my mid-20s as a “nice guy”.
Then I got a job in management. I ended up doing everyone else’s job, because I was too nice to them. Then my boss, the district manager, who was always a real jerk, gave me some advice. It was probably the only time he was ever sincere with me. He said that people were walking all over me, and I shouldn’t care so much about making people happy. Just tell people the truth, about what they should be doing and what they’ve done wrong. Don’t try to be everyone’s friend. We’re not here to make friends. We’re here to make money.
His little “pep talk” really stuck with me. I tried it, and it worked. People respect you a lot more if you don’t try to spare their feelings and just tell them the truth, even if you think it will hurt them.
In retrospect, people had been taking advantage of my niceness throughout high school and college. People used me for rides, copied my homework, and borrowed money without returning it. Why? Because I was too nice to speak up. I was trying to avoid any friction with them, so I just said “yes” to everyone.