Firemen had been fighting the forest for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before， great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now， smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction， for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out， the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then， however， in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.

New words and expressions  生词和短语

control n. 控制

smoke n. 烟

desolate adj. 荒凉的

threaten v. 威胁

surrounding adj. 周围的

destruction n. 破坏，毁灭

flood n. 洪水，水灾

authority n. （常用复数）当局

grass-seed n. 草籽

spray v. 喷撒

quantity n. 量

root n. 根

century n. 世纪

patch n. 小片

blacken v. 变黑，发暗

参考译文

消防队员们同那场森林大火搏斗了将近3个星期才最后把火势控制住。就在不久之前，参天大树还覆盖着方圆数英里的土地。而现在，发热的地面上仍然升腾着烟雾，弥漫在荒凉的山丘上。冬季即将来临，这些山丘对周围的村庄具有毁灭性的威胁，因为大雨不仅会冲走土壤，而且还会引起严重的水灾。在大火最后被扑灭后，森林管理当局订购了好几吨一种生长迅速的特殊类型的草籽。飞机把这种草籽大量地撒播在地上。飞机撒播近一个月后，开始下起雨来。然而到那时，很多地方的草已经生了根。一片片的绿草开始出现在这片烧焦的土地上，代替了多少世纪以来一直生长在那里的参天大树。