英语博客：Fire to the West.

 　　Do you remember a few episodes ago, a podcast called Smoke to the North? We learned how to say that something is going on in  a particular direction. Well, recently, we have had very bad fires to the West which are still burning. The photo on the blog page was a late afternoon view from my back garden, unusually dark, with a beautiful but very unusual sun. That was taken a few days ago. Now the hillside is completely black, and the fire has swept up(1) to the forests and hills behind our valley. First of all, when the fire was small and confined to an area of empty, dry hillside, it seemed just interesting, and even a little exciting. You could hear the whining¹ (2)of emergency sirens here and there, and of course, it was the main topic of conversation. But these fires have dragged on(3). For the past two mornings we have woken up to a valley full of smoke; you can't even see the hills anymore. The local school district has cancelled all outside sports and recesses², and sporting clubs have done the same(4). People we know have had to evacuate³ their homes, though some have decided⁴ to stay in order to wet their rooves, trees, and gardens, to prevent fire. And remember, it's not just people who have been affected⁵. The hills around here have many different kinds of wild animals, including predators⁶. They are on the move(5) now, trying to get away from the smoke and ash, to reach cleaner, greener areas. One of my husband's favorite hunting areas is getting heavy traffic of deer and coyotes; the bears and cougars⁷ will be following as well. The whole thing started with a lightening storm several days ago. There was fork lightening everywhere, and of course, after the summer, the surrounding hills are completely dry. A fire was bound to (6)start. Add to that our desert climate of very little to no rain, and you find us here, still in this smokey situation. The fire fighters have been working around the clock(7), and helicopters go to and fro(8) collecting water from the rivers and taking it up the mountains. Now, it's a question of sitting and waiting. There's nothing really that we can do. It is not so bad that we have to leave, but it's certainly not yet under control. I hope that in a few days we will be back to normal; I look forward to breathing clean air again.

　　1. 'Swept' or 'to sweep' is used often to describe how something has moved, especially if that something looks similar to a brush, or acts like a brush. It is similar, in this case, to 'wipe'.

　　a. She swept her long, thick hair out of her face, and pinned it up at the back of her head.

　　b. The fire swept through the fields in no time, burning up the wheat.

　　2. 'To whine⁸', 'whining', or 'whiny⁹' is an uncomfortable sound used to describe a certain noise that people make, though it can be used to describe mechanical noises as well.

　　a. I can't stand it when children whine; their tone of voice when they moan, beg, or complain is tiring. We must teach them to express themselves differently.

　　b. That man is a whiner¹⁰. He complains about everything; he's always negative.

　　c. The fire alarm whined¹¹ loudly, and immediately everybody evacuated¹².

　　3. 'To drag on' means to continue tiresomely¹³.

　　a. The musical rehearsal¹⁴ dragged on; the beginner players tried their best, but sounded awful.

　　b. Gosh that meeting dragged on! I wish people wouldn't repeat themselves  and talk on and on for no good reason.

　　4. 'The same' is short for 'the same thing'. The sentence talks about sports clubs doing the same thing as the school district; it is unnecessary to always add 'thing'.

　　a. They have just painted their fence, and we've done the same (thing).

　　b. She got 99% on the math exam, and he got the same. (* Here, you wouldn't use 'thing' because you are specifically referring to the percentage).

　　5. 'To be on the move' is used when referring to animals migrating, or large amounts of vehicles moving.

　　a. The wildebeest are on the move, walking many miles each day in search of food and water.

　　b. The tanks have been given their orders, and are now on the move.

　　6. 'To be bound to...' means the same as 'was/were going to'. 'Bound' is the past participle and adjective of 'to bind¹⁵' which means to tie up, to secure. So, 'to be bound to...' means that something will happen, and there is no other choice.

　　a. With the economic crisis hitting this town, there is bound to be a lot of unemployment.

　　b. He's bound to go to the pub; he can't stay away from them.

　　7. 'Around the clock' is a phrase we use in order to say 'a lot' or 'for many hours' or 'night and day'.

　　a. The builders have to work around the clock to get the stadium finished on time.

　　b. The investigators¹⁶ are working around the clock to find the criminals.

　　8. 'To and fro' is similar to 'back and forth¹⁷'.

　　a. The deer would come into our garden and then go back to the forest, to and fro all Winter.

　　b. We watched the tennis players hit the ball to and fro, until our heads got tired.

1 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。

2 recesses   

n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭

参考例句：

• I could see the inmost recesses. 我能看见最深处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I had continually pushed my doubts to the darker recesses of my mind. 我一直把怀疑深深地隐藏在心中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 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。

6 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 cougars   

n.美洲狮( cougar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cougars can kill animals eight times their size. 美洲狮可以杀死八倍于自身体积的动物。 来自互联网

8 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

9 whiny   

adj. 好发牢骚的, 嘀咕不停的, 烦躁的

参考例句：

• People get rude and whiny when they are exhausted. 人们在精疲力竭的时候会变得粗野，爱发牢骚。
• People get rude and whiny and exacting when they are exhausted. 人在筋疲力尽的时候会变得粗暴、爱发牢骚而苛求。

10 whiner   

n.哀鸣者，啜泣者，悲嗥者，哀诉者

参考例句：

• He was a whiner, always complaining of the costs in his Family business. 他整天嘀嘀咕咕，老是埋怨自己的家族企业开销太大了。 来自教父部分
• And finally, make sure your boss sees you as a winner and not a whiner. 最后，确定你的老板认为你是一个成功者，而不是一名哀诉者。 来自互联网

11 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

12 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。

13 tiresomely   

adj. 令人厌倦的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The excitement over her arrival was tiresomely predictable –like flashing a shiny object at a child. 她的到来会使人们兴奋，这是稍微可以预见的——就像在一个孩子面前放一个闪闪发光的东西。
• British chancellors tiresomely wont to lecture finance ministers in mainland Europe about their superior policies. 英国的财政大臣也常常向欧洲大陆的财政部长们演讲他们的优越政策。

14 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

15 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

16 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。