美国有线新闻 CNN 美加州洛杉矶火情加剧 詹姆斯紧急撤离

 

In the U.S. state of California, students at Mount Saint Mary's University and NBA star LeBron James have a couple of things in common. One, they live near Los Angeles. Two, they've evacuated¹ because of wildfires.

The one threatening the L.A. area broke out on Monday morning, in a place known for expensive homes and celebrities². Mandatory³ evacuations were issued, meaning residents were told to leave immediately, but this is just for one fire. Two other major fires are burning in California, with powerful winds literally⁴ fanning the flames. A blaze about 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles has destroyed dozens of homes. It was mostly contained, meaning, block off as of last night, but that wasn't the case with the fire further north, near the San Francisco Bay Area.

That one forced the evacuations of almost 200,000 people. And California's largest utility company s?hut off electricity to 965,000 homes and businesses in northern California. It's trying to keep its equipment from causing new fires, as it's been blamed for doing in the past.

Pacific Gas and Electric says another shutoff could occur on Tuesday because of another strong and dry wind event in the forecast. California's fire season is often worsened by the hot dry winds that blow across the state. The Santa Ana winds blow westward⁵ across southern California, and can be at their worst in October. The Diablo winds blow northeast across northern California and can be at their worst in October.

"The New York Times" reports that this year's fire season hasn't been as bad as it has been for the previous two years, but that's little comfort to those witnessing the flames flare⁶ up.

1 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

2 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

3 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

6 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。