宾夕法尼亚大学 李劲松
干旱从古至今都是人类面临的主要自然灾害之一。 即使在科学技术如此发达的今天，它造成的灾难性后果仍然令人触目惊心。
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难词探意
1. snowpack /΄snoʊˌpæk/ n. 积雪
2. powder keg 炸药桶
3. parched /pɑːtʃt/ adj. 焦干的
4. offset /΄ɒffset/ v. 抵消
5. divert /daɪ΄vзː:t/ v. 使转向
6. reservoir /΄rezəvwɑː(r)/ n. 水库
7. retain /rɪ΄teɪn/ v. 保持
原文复现
California's mountain snowpack is about half of its normal level, raising fears that the state could return to drought after a period of mostly abundant wet years.
On Thursday, officials of the state's Department of Water Resources conducted a survey at a measuring station near Lake Tahoe that recorded 29 inches of snow, or 47% of average for this time of year. The reduced snowpack follows a roughly six-week stretch that has been one of the driest periods on record in California.With no rain in sight until at least Sunday,downtown San Francisco is on track to record no measurable rain in February for the first time since 1864, and only the second time in its history. Similarly, state officials said that the northern part of the Sierra Nevada mountains are on track to experience no rainfall this month for the first time since records started there 100 years ago. At the same time last year, by contrast, the Sierra mountains were buried under a snowpack that stood at 144% of normal—and nearly double the average amount in 2017.One of the local officials named Jerry Brown declared an end to a five-year drought that hurt the farm economy and turned forests into powder kegs for wildfires.
While California has seen more rain and snow in recent years, the drought left much of the state soparchedthat the rise in rainfall has done little tooffsetpersistent fire risks. Weather forecasters attributed the dry period to a strong ridge of high pressure that has been parked off the coast of California since mid-January,divertingPacific storms to Northwestern cities like Seattle, which has had an unusually wet winter.Yet state water officials said they had never seen weather conditions change as dramatically in recent years, and named climate change as a possible contributing factor. “We're seeing a lot of things now that we haven't seen before,” said Sean de Guzman, chief of snow surveys and water supply forecasting for the Department of Water Resources.
The good news for Californians is thatreservoirsremain mostly full around the state,while the snowpack hasretainedmost of its water content without melting off early, Mr Guzman said. Besides, California's other major source of water—from the Colorado River—is enjoying a snow season. The state's farms are likely to feel the pinch(经济拮据) this year. The US Bureau of Reclamation earlier this week said that, based on the dry conditions, it was reducing allocations of federally controlled irrigation water to an initial level of as little as 15% of normal for some farm districts.
—From The Wall Street Journal
文本探究
探究视角1：语篇分析
本文是一篇说明文，文章对加州的干旱情况进行了描述，介绍了加州近年来的气候和降水情况， 并对造成这种现象的可能原因做出了分析。 说明文是一种以说明为主要表达方式的文章体裁。为了把事物特征说清楚，或者把事理阐述明白，说明文必须要有相应的说明方法。常见的说明方法有举例子、分类别、做比较、列数字、下定义、做诠释、打比方、摹状貌、引用、画图表等。
篇章结构梳理：
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本文使用的说明方法：
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探究视角2：语言学习
Ⅰ. 文本填空
1. The roughly six-week stretch has been one of the driest_____(period) on record in California.
2. Jerry Brown declared an end to a five-year drought_____hurt the farm economy.
3. California's mountain snowpack is about half of its normal level,_____(raise) fears that the state could return to drought.
4. The good news for Californians is_____reservoirs remain mostly full around the state.
5. The state's farms are likely_____(feel)the pinch this year.
Ⅱ.难句分析
1. California's mountain snowpack is about half of its normal level, raising fears that the state could return to drought after a period of mostly abundant wet years.
加利福尼亚的积雪量只有正常水平的一半左右，人们担心在经过了一段多雨的时期之后，加州可能会再次出现干旱。
【点石成金】本句中，California's mountain snowpack为主语，is为系动词，about...level 为表语，raising fears作结果状语，that引导同位语从句，解释说明fears。
2. One of the local officials named Jerry Brown declared an end to a five-year drought that hurt the farm economy and turned forests into powder kegs for wildfires.
杰瑞·布朗，当地官员之一，宣布这场长达五年的干旱结束。 这场干旱损害了农业经济，把森林变成了野火的火药桶。
【点石成金】该句为一个主从复合句。主句为Jerry Brown declared an end to a five-year drought，后面that hurt...wildfires为定语从句，先行词为drought。
探究视角3：文化拓展
干旱的原因及预防
从自然因素方面来看， 干旱的发生主要与偶然性或周期性的降水减少有关。从人类活动方面来看，人口的大量增加、森林植被遭破坏和水资源浪费都是干旱发生的原因。植树造林、兴修水利、研究和应用现代技术、增强节水意识都是预防干旱的有效措施。以下是与干旱有关的英文表达：
1. Drought can be caused by not receiving rain or snow over a period of time. 一段时间内没有降雨或降雪可能会造成干旱。
2. Dry conditions often lead to bush fires or wildfires. 干燥的环境通常会导致灌木丛火灾或野火。
3. Of all the weather-related phenomena that can cause severe economic impacts in the United States, droughts come in second only to hurricanes. 在所有可能对美国经济造成严重影响的天气现象中，干旱仅次于飓风。
4. Drought is caused by not only lack of precipitation and high temperatures but also by overuse of water and overpopulation. 造成干旱的原因不仅仅有缺少降水和高温，还有水资源过度使用和人口过剩。
5. Drought can be devastating to an area's economy and dangerous for human health. 干旱对一个地区的经济方面的影响是毁灭性的，对人类健康来说，也是很危险的。
6. In fact, population booms can also trigger droughts. 事实上，人口激增也会引发干旱。
7. As the human population increases in arid regions as well as wet ones, so will the demand for water, and—with water supplies dropping at a faster rate—so will the likelihood of drought. 随着干旱地区和潮湿地区人口的增加，人们对水的需求也会增加，而且随着水供应以更快的速度下降， 发生干旱的可能性就会增加。
8. Aside from the human population explosion, global warming also fuels the increased frequency and severity of droughts in many parts of the globe, now and in future. 除了人口爆炸之外，全球变暖还加剧了全球许多地区，在现在和未来，干旱的频率和严重程度。
