At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in Califoria. 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 borken glass. They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire. This morning ,however, a fireman 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 immediatelly started a fire.
New words and expressions 生词和短语
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.謎
snatch v.抓住
spark n.电火花
Notes on the text 课文注释
1 at last,最后，终于。
2 they have been trying to find out how the fire began,他们一直试图找出起火的原因。