新概念英语－听录音，并回答问题
What caused the fire?新概念英语 - 小编笔记
小编笔记：看来加州山火是有历史的，不晓得文中谈的是什么时候的加州山火，是一篇新闻报道还是纯粹编写的教材用短文，无论如何，按照新概念英语成书的年代来看，说起来也是几十年前的事情了，24年的加州大火全球轰动，起火的原因似乎并未有定论
首先，学习一下hot这个词，其核心含义是指温度高，热，基于这个核心含义，在不同的场景，有更多的含义：热的，带电的，火的/流行的，辣的，烫的，火辣性感的等等
At last,这个短语下节课也会遇到，“终于”的意思。
留意时态：
- At last firemen have put out a big fire, 终于消防员们扑灭了大火，这个是现在完成时
- Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began.从那时起，他们一直尝试找到起火的原因。现在完成进行时
- Forest fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away...一般现在时+ 被动语态
- Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully 过去时
- A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires. 鸟把蛇抓离地面然后把它扔到电线上，前面是过去完成时，然后是过去时，这里有些纠结的，仔细体会
新概念英语 - 教材原文
新概念英语－课文
At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California. Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began. Forest fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away.
Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were not able to find any broken glass. They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire.
This morning, however, a firemen accidentally discovered 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 solve the mystery.
The explanation was simple but very unusual. 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.
新概念英语－单词和短语
hot adj. 带电的，充电的fireman n. 消防队员
cause v. 引起； n. 原因
examine v. 检查
accidentally adv. 意外地，偶然地
remains n. 尸体，残骸
wire n. 电线
volt n. 伏特（电压单位）
power line 电力线
solve v. 解决
mystery n. 谜
snatch v. 抓住
spark n. 电火花
新概念英语－翻译
消防队员们终于扑灭了加利福尼亚的一场森林大火。从那时起，他们一直试图找出起火的原因。森林火灾时常由破碎的玻璃或人们随手扔掉的香烟头引起。
昨天，消防队员仔细查看了地面，但未能发现碎玻璃。他们还十分肯定火灾也不是由烟头引起的。
然而今天上午，一个消防队员偶然发现了起火的原因。他发现了缠绕在16,000伏高压线上的一条死蛇。就这样，他解开了起火之谜。
解释很简单，却异乎寻常。一只鸟把蛇从地上抓起来，然后把它扔到了电线上。于是蛇就缠住了几根电线。当它这样做时，把火花送到了地面，这些火花立刻引起了一场大火。