VOA慢速英语2019 加州南北野火肆虐 数十万人面临停电

Hundreds of thousands of families in California are being affected¹ by wildfires in the state, and as many as 1.5 million people may lose electrical power.

加州成千上万家庭正受到该州发生的野火的影响，并且可能会有多达150万人面临停电。

The company Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) called for another blackout early Tuesday in 29 northern California counties. An earlier power outage that started Saturday affected 2.5 million people, the Associated Press reported.

太平洋天然气和电力公司周二早上要求在北加州29个县再次停电。美联社报道称，上次停电从周六开始，影响了250万人。

PG & E is the nation's biggest utility company. But it has been severely² criticized for the last two years over the part it has played in fires in the state and how it has provided electricity during those times.

太平洋天然气和电力公司是该州最大的公用事业公司。但是人们严厉批评了该公司过去两年在该州的野火中所扮演的角色以及它在这段时间内是如何供电的。

Some Californians are unhappy with the company's decision to cut electricity. Janet Luoma of Santa Rosa told the Associated Press, "It's so obvious it's just to protect them from more liability."

一些加州人对该公司的停电决定感到不满。圣罗莎的珍妮特·洛马对美联社表示：“很明显这只是防止他们要承担更大责任。”

California Governor Gavin Newsom has grown accustomed to fires. "What's interesting about the fires at this moment is that it's rather normal," he told reporters Monday. "What's not normal is the power shutoffs," he added.

加州州长加文·钮瑟姆已经对野火见惯不惊了。他周一对记者表示：“目前关于野火的有趣之处是，野火很正常，但是停电不正常。”

The fires have affected or destroyed many homes across the state. They have even affected people who live in costly³ neighborhoods in southern California. NBA Basketball superstar LeBron James was forced to leave the area where he and his family live and tweeted about it on Sunday:

野火影响到或是烧毁了州内各地的许多房屋。它们甚至影响到了南加州豪华社区的居民。NBA篮球巨星勒布朗·詹姆斯周日就被迫离开了他和家人居住的地方，他就此发布了推文：

"Man these LA fires aren't no joke. Had to emergency evacuate⁴ my house and I've been driving around with my family trying to get rooms. No luck so far! "

“伙计们，洛杉矶野火可不是开玩笑的。我得从家里紧急撤离，我开着车带着家人四处找地方住。到现在还没找到。”

In Northern California, schools are closed in some areas while others do not have power. Stores in Oakland, near San Francisco, are using generators⁵. And many people use their cars to charge their electronic devices.

在北加州，一些地区的学校已经关闭，而另一些地区则停了电。靠近旧金山的奥克兰市的商店开始使用发电机。许多人用车给电子设备充电。

Affecting north and south

影响加州南北

The fire is affecting areas in both the northern and southern parts of the nation's second largest state by land area.

这场野火同时影响到了加州这个美国第二大州的北部和南部地区。

In the north, the California Department of Forestry⁶ & Fire Protection says the Kincade Fire is affecting more than 30,000 hectares in Sonoma County. The fire has been burning for five days and is only 15 percent contained. Sonoma County is famous for wine growing. The AP reported that 96 buildings were destroyed in the county as of Tuesday. But it is only one of the fires in the area.

在加州北部，加州林业与消防局表示，“金凯德野火”影响到了索诺马县超过3万公顷的土地。这场野火已经烧了5天，只有15%的火势被控制。索诺马县以葡萄种植闻名。美联社报道称，截止周二，该县已经有96栋建筑被烧毁。但是它只是该地区发生的野火之一。

In southern California one of the fires has destroyed homes near the Getty Museum which holds a major art collection and library. However, while eight homes nearby were burned the museum is in better condition than other structures. It is made of stone and has a huge water storage tank.

在加州南部，一场野火烧毁了拥有大量艺术品和藏书的盖蒂博物馆附近的房屋。但是尽管附近有8栋房屋被烧毁，该博物馆的状况要强于其它建筑。它是由石头建成，并且有一个巨大的储水箱。

Strong winds are feeding the fires and spreading them quickly. Weather experts on Tuesday said they expected strong winds in the north with little chance of rain.

强风助长了火势并迅速蔓延，气象专家周二表示，他们预计北部会有强风，并且降雨概率很小。

Scotty Richardson spoke⁷ to AP about his experience. He lost power on Saturday. He said the possibility that electricity will not be restored for days makes him "furious, furious."

斯科蒂·理查森向美联社讲述了他的经历。他周六遇到了停电。他说，可能好几天都来不了电让他感觉很愤怒。

Last week, PG & E admitted that its equipment might have been the cause of fires in some areas.

上周，太平洋天然气和电力公司承认某些地区的野火可能是由该公司的设备引发的。

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

5 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。