在澳大利亞，每年都有森林火災。但是今年的火災特別嚴重，不僅有很多傷亡，而且野生動物也遭了殃。那麼，爲什麼今年的火災如此嚴重呢？
Why Australian bushfires are so bad this season
by Sarah Newey
Australia is no stranger to wildfires, but this season has been unprecedented in scale and intensity. So far at least 17 people have died in blazes that have swept the country, more than 1,200 homes have been destroyed and 55,000 square kilometres of land has been burnt. So what has caused the blazes which have devastated（徹底破壞） huge swathes（大片土地） of the country?
wildfire /ˈwaɪldfaɪə(r)/ n. 野火、山林大火
unprecedented /ʌnˈpresɪdentɪd/ adj. 史無前例的
scale /skeɪl/ n. 規模
intensity /ɪnˈtensəti/ n. 強度
blaze /bleɪz/ n. 大火
sweep /swiːp/ v. 橫掃、席捲（swept是過去分詞）
cause /kɔːz/ v. 造成、引起
Australia's deadly fires have been fuelled by a combination of extreme heat, prolonged drought and strong winds. The country is in the grip of a heatwave, with record-breaking temperatures over the last three months. In mid-December the nation saw the hottest day in history – the average temperature was 41.9 degrees Celsius.
deadly /ˈdedli/ adj. 致命的、致死的
fuel /ˈfjuːəl/ v. 提供燃料
combination /ˌkɒmbɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 組合（由combine加後綴-ation變成名詞）
extreme /ɪkˈstriːm/ adj. 極端的
prolonged /prəˈlɒŋd/ adj. 拖了很長時間的
drought /draʊt/ n. 乾旱
grip /ɡrɪp/ n. 控制、支配
heatwave /ˈhiːtˌweɪv/ n. 熱浪
record-breaking 破紀錄的
mid- 前綴，表示“在…中間”
nation /ˈneɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 國家
degree Celsius /ˈselsiəs/ 攝氏度
These conditions, which show few signs of abating（減輕） in the next few weeks, have been accompanied by brisk（活躍的） winds which fan the flames and push the smoke across Australia's major cities. On Monday wind speeds were recorded at 97 kilometres per hour.
condition /kənˈdɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 狀態、狀況
accompany /əˈkʌmpəni/ v. 陪伴、伴隨
fan /fæn/ v. 吹動
flame /fleɪm/ n. 火焰
major /ˈmeɪdʒə(r)/ adj. 主要的
record /rɪˈkɔːd/ v. 記錄
All this follows the country's driest spring since records began 120 years ago, with much of New South Wales and Queensland experiencing rainfall shortfalls since early 2017. Trees, shrubs（矮樹） and grasslands have turned into the perfect tinder（易燃物） for flames.
record /ˈrekɔːd/ n. 紀錄（它做名詞和做動詞時發音不同）
New South Wales 新南威爾士（澳大利亞東南部的州）
Queensland 昆士蘭（澳大利亞東北部的州）
rainfall /ˈreɪnfɔːl/ n. 降雨、降水
shortfall /ˈʃɔːtfɔːl/ n. 缺口、短缺量
grassland /ˈɡrɑːslænd/ n. 草地
turn /tɜːn/ v. 變成
Bushfires are a regular feature in Australia's calendar – often triggered by natural causes such as lightning strikes – and cannot be blamed on climate change alone. But experts say that the changing climate is key to understanding the ferocity（兇猛） of this year's blazes – hotter, drier conditions are making the country's fire season longer and much more dangerous.
bushfire /ˈbʊʃˌfaɪə(r)/ n. 灌木火災、森林火災
feature /ˈfiːtʃə(r)/ n. 特性、特色
calendar /ˈkæləndə(r)/ n. 日曆
trigger /ˈtrɪɡə(r)/ v. 引發
cause /kɔːz/ n. 原因、起因
lightning /ˈlaɪtnɪŋ/ n. 閃電
strike /straɪk/ n. 襲擊、擊打
key /kiː/ adj. 關鍵的
And Australia's climate is definitely changing. According to the country's Bureau of Meteorology, temperatures have already risen by more than one degree Celsius since 1920 – with much of the increase taking place since 1950.
definitely /ˈdefɪnətli/ adv. 肯定地、毫無疑問地
Bureau of Meteorology 氣象局
So far the response has been largely reactive – aimed at evacuating（撤離） residents to safety and stopping the blazes from spreading. Australia relies on hundreds of thousands of volunteer firefighters, who have been working around the clock to try and bring the fires under control for months.
response /rɪˈspɒns/ n. 響應、應對
largely /ˈlɑːdʒli/ adv. 在很大程度上、基本上（由large加後綴-ly變成副詞）
reactive /rɪˈæktɪv/ adj. 做出反應的、被動應付的（由react加後綴-ive變成形容詞）
resident /ˈrezɪd(ə)nt/ n. 居民
safety /ˈseɪfti/ n. 安全、安全地帶
spread /spred/ v. 擴散
rely /rɪˈlaɪ/ on 依靠
volunteer /ˌvɒlənˈtɪə(r)/ n. 志願者
around the clock 夜以繼日地
under control 被控制住
The armed forces have now also been deployed to fight the fires and evacuate residents and the United States, Canada and New Zealand have also sent resources including firefighters to help stem the blazes.
the armed forces 武裝力量、軍隊
deploy /dɪˈplɔɪ/ v. 部署
New Zealand /ˈziːlənd/ 新西蘭
resource /ˈriːsɔːs/ n. 資源
stem /stem/ v. 遏制、封堵
But in the long term, experts have said that there should be a review of building standards in bushfire zones to create resilient homes and larger buffer（緩衝物） zones between the bush and properties. There have also been calls for emphasis on traditional fire management techniques used by Indigenous（原住民的） communities and a paid fire service less reliant on volunteers.
in the long term 從長期看
review /rɪˈvjuː/ n. 回顧、評估
standard /ˈstændəd/ n. 標準、質量標準
resilient /rɪˈzɪliənt/ adj. 能快速復原的
bush /bʊʃ/ n. 灌木、灌木地帶
property /ˈprɒpəti/ n. 房產
call /kɔːl/ n. 呼籲、要求
emphasis /ˈemfəsɪs/ n. 重點
management /ˈmænɪdʒmənt/ n. 管理（由manage加後綴-ment變成名詞）
technique /tekˈniːk/ n. 技藝、技術
community /kəˈmjuːnəti/ n. 社區
reliant /rɪˈlaɪənt/ adj. 依靠…的（由rely加後綴-ant變成形容詞）
The country's government and Prime Minister Scott Morrison have been widely denounced（譴責） for their response to the crisis – particularly the insistence（頑固堅持） that fires are nothing new and climate change is irrelevant. And Mr Morrison was criticised for taking a family holiday to Hawaii in December despite the infernos（無法控制的大火）.
Prime Minister 總理
widely /ˈwaɪdli/ adv. 廣泛地、普遍地（由wide加後綴-ly變成副詞）
crisis /ˈkraɪsɪs/ n. 危機
irrelevant /ɪˈreləv(ə)nt/ adj. 不相干的（由relevant加上表示否定的前綴ir-）
criticise /ˈkrɪtɪsaɪz/ v. 批評
Hawaii /həˈwaɪiː/ n. 夏威夷
（如果您發現某些行的最後一個單詞被分成兩半了，請把您使用的瀏覽器升級到最新版本就能正常顯示了。）