加州或干旱再臨

李勁松

干旱從古至今都是人類面臨的主要自然災(zāi)害。即使在科學(xué)技術(shù)如此發(fā)達(dá)的今天，它造成的災(zāi)難性后果仍然比比皆是。

難詞探意

1. snowpack / sno··p·k/ n. 積雪

2. powder keg 炸藥桶

3. parched /pɑ：t·t/ adj. 焦的;炎熱的

4. offset /offset/ v. 抵消

5. divert /da··v·：t/ v. 轉(zhuǎn)移

6. reservoir /·rez·vwɑ：（r）/ n. 水庫

7. meager /mi：g·/ adj. 貧乏的

8. retain / r··te·n/ v. 保存

原文復(fù)現(xiàn)

Californias mountain snowpack is about half of its normal level， raising fears that the state could return to drought after a period of mostly abundant wet years.

On Thursday， officials of the states Department of Water Resources conducted a survey at a measuring station near Lake Tahoe that recorded 29 inches of snow， or 47% of average for this time of year. The reduced snowpack follows a roughly sixweek stretch that has been one of the driest periods on record in California. With no rain in sight until at least Sunday， downtown San Francisco is on track to record no measurable rain in February for the first time since 1864， and only the second time in its history. Similarly， state officials say the northern part of the Sierra Nevada mountains are on track to experience no rainfall this month for the first time since records started there 100 years ago. At the same time last year， by contrast， the Sierra mountains were buried under a snowpack that stood at 144% of normal—and nearly double the average amount in 2017. Jerry Brown declared an end to a fiveyear drought that hurt the farm economy and turned forests into powder kegs for wildfires.

While California has seen more rain and snow in recent years， the drought left much of the state so parched that the rise in rainfall has done little to offset persistent fire risks.Weather forecasters attributed the dry period to a strong ridge of high pressure that has been parked off the coast of California since midJanuary， diverting Pacific storms to Northwestern cities like Seattle， which has had an unusually wet winter. Yet state water officials said they had never seen weather conditions change as dramatically in recent years， and named climate change as a possible contributing factor. “Were seeing a lot of things now that we havent seen before，” said Sean de Guzman， chief of snow surveys and water supply forecasting for the Department of Water Resources.

The good news for Californians is that reservoirs remain mostly full around the state， while the snowpack has retained most of its water content without melting off early， Mr. Guzman said. Besides， Californias other major source of water—from the Colorado River—is enjoying a snow season.The states farms are likely to feel the pinch（節(jié)制） this year. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation earlier this week said that， based on the dry conditions， it was reducing allocations of federally controlled irrigation water to an initial level of as little as 15% of normal for some farm districts.

文章來源： 《華爾街日報》

文本探究

探究視角1：語篇分析

本文是一篇說明文，通過對加州的干旱情況進(jìn)行描述，介紹了加州近年來的氣候和降水情況，并對造成其現(xiàn)象的可能原因和潛在影響作出分析，引起讀者思考和注意。說明文是一種以說明為主要表達(dá)方式的文章體裁。為了把事物特征說清楚，或者把事理闡述明白，必須有相適應(yīng)的說明方法。常見的說明方法有舉例子、分類別、作比較、列數(shù)字、下定義、作詮釋、打比方、摹狀貌、引用、畫圖表等。

探究視角2：語言學(xué)習(xí)

Ⅰ. 文本填空

1. The roughly sixweek stretch has been one of the driest （period） on record in California.

2. Jerry Brown declared an end to a fiveyear droughthurt the farm economy.

3. Californias mountain snowpack is about half of its normal level，（raise） fears that the state could return to drought.

4. The good news for Californians is reservoirs（蓄水池） remain mostly full around the state.

5. The states farms are likely （feel） the pinch（節(jié)制） this year.

Ⅱ. 難句分析

1. Californias mountain snowpack is about half of its normal level， raising fears that the state could return to drought after a period of mostly abundant wet years.

加利福尼亞的積雪量只有正常水平的一半左右，人們擔(dān)心，在經(jīng)歷了一段多雨的時期之后，加州可能會再次出現(xiàn)干旱。

【點石成金】本句中，Californias mountain snowpack為主語，謂語動詞為is，about...level 為表語，raising fears作結(jié)果狀語，that引導(dǎo)同位語從句，解釋說明fears。

2. Jerry Brown declared an end to a fiveyear drought that hurt the farm economy and turned forests into powder kegs for wildfires.

杰瑞·布朗宣布結(jié)束長達(dá)五年的干旱，這場干旱損害了農(nóng)業(yè)經(jīng)濟(jì)，把森林變成了野火的火藥桶。

【點石成金】該句為一個主從復(fù)合句。主句為Jerry Brown declared an end to a fiveyear drought，后面that hurt...wildfires為定語從句，先行詞為drought。

探究視角3：思維拓展

干旱的原因及預(yù)防

從自然因素來說，干旱的發(fā)生主要與偶然性或周期性的降水減少有關(guān)。從人類活動方面來看，人口的大量增加，森林植被遭破壞和水資源浪費都是導(dǎo)致干旱發(fā)生的因素。植樹造林，興修水利研究應(yīng)用現(xiàn)代技術(shù)和節(jié)水措施都是預(yù)防干旱的有效措施。以下是與干旱有關(guān)的表達(dá)：

1. Drought can be caused by not receiving rain or snow over a period of time. 干旱可能是由于在一段時間內(nèi)沒有雨或雪造成的。

2. Dry conditions often lead to brush fires or wildfires. 干燥的環(huán)境通常導(dǎo)致灌木叢火災(zāi)或野火。

3. Of all the weatherrelated phenomena that can cause severe economic impacts in the United States， droughts come in second only to hurricanes. 在所有可能對美國經(jīng)濟(jì)造成嚴(yán)重影響的天氣現(xiàn)象中，干旱僅次于颶風(fēng)。

4. Drought is caused by not only lack of precipitation and high temperatures but by overuse of water and overpopulation. 造成干旱的原因不僅僅是缺少降水和高溫，還有水資源過度使用和人口過剩。

5. Drought can be devastating to an areas economy and dangerous for human health. 干旱對一個地區(qū)的經(jīng)濟(jì)是毀滅性的，對人類健康也來說，也是很危險的。

6. In fact， population booms can trigger droughts almost by themselves. 事實上，人口激增幾乎可以自行引發(fā)干旱。

7. As the human population increases in arid regions as well as wet ones， so will the demand for water， and — with water supplies dropping at a faster rate — so will the likelihood of drought. 隨著干旱地區(qū)和潮濕地區(qū)人口的增加，對水的需求也會增加，而且隨著水供應(yīng)以更快的速度下降，發(fā)生干旱的可能性就會增加。

8. Aside from the human population explosion， global warming also fuels the increased frequency and severity of droughts in many parts of the globe， now and in future. 除了人口爆炸之外，全球變暖還加劇了在全球許多地區(qū)，現(xiàn)在和未來干旱的頻率和嚴(yán)重程度。