外刊阅读：Why the Notre Dame fire was

前两天巴黎圣母院的大火在网上刷屏了。人们在感到惋惜的同时，可能也会想一个问题：为什么这场大火烧了那么长时间？

Why the Notre Dame fire was so hard to put out

by Joshua Berlinger

Notre Dame's centuries-old wooden roof beams, stone exterior and soaring Gothic architecture made Monday's blaze especially difficult to tackle and Paris firefighters deserve praise for their efforts, experts say.

Notre Dame /ˌnɒtrə ˈdɑːm/ 巴黎圣母院
beam /biːm/ n. 梁
exterior /ɪkˈstɪəriə(r)/ n. 外部
soaring /ˈsɔːrɪŋ/ adj. 高耸的
Gothic /ˈɡɒθɪk/ adj. 哥特式（建筑）
architecture /ˈɑːkɪtektʃə(r)/ n. 建筑风格
blaze /bleɪz/ n. 大火
tackle /ˈtæk(ə)l/ v. 应对、对付
firefighter /ˈfaɪəˌfaɪtə(r)/ n. 消防队员（由fire和fighter组成）
praise /preɪz/ n./v. 表扬、赞扬

Video released by the French Interior Ministry showed the scale of the response. Authorities deployed some 400 firefighters, pumped water from the Seine and flew drones to survey the damage.

release /rɪˈliːs/ v. 发布、公布
interior /ɪnˈtɪəriə(r)/ n. 内政、内务
ministry /ˈmɪnɪstri/ n. （政府的）部（French Interior Ministry就是法国内政部）
scale /skeɪl/ n. 规模、程度
response /rɪˈspɒns/ n. 反应、回应
authorities /ɔːˈθɒrətiz/ n. 有关部门
deploy /dɪˈplɔɪ/ v. 部署、调配
some /sʌm/ adv. 大约（用在数字之前）
pump /pʌmp/ v. （用水泵）抽水
Seine /seɪn/ n. 塞纳河
drone /drəʊn/ n. 无人机
survey /səˈveɪ/ v. 勘查

"It was pretty evident in the first 20 minutes that it was going to be a bad fire," said Gregg Favre, a former firefighter with the St. Louis Fire Department in the United States. The firefighters would have been at a disadvantage "before they ever even pulled out of the firehouse," added Favre.

evident /ˈevɪd(ə)nt/ adj. 显而易见的
St. Louis /seɪnt ˈluːɪs/ 圣路易斯（美国中部城市）
at a disadvantage 处于不利地位
pull /pʊl/ v. （往某个方向）移动
firehouse /ˈfaɪəhaʊs/ n. 消防站（由fire和house组成）

The biggest problem, experts say, was accessing the wooden ceiling beams which formed the frame for the soaring roof. Once the beams start burning, the stone exterior makes it harder for firefighters outside the building to get to the source of the flames. The stone traps heat and smoke, preventing them from working inside.

access /ˈækses/ v. 接近、进入
ceiling /ˈsiːlɪŋ/ n. 天花板
form /fɔːm/ v. 形成
frame /freɪm/ n. 框架
source /sɔːs/ n. 源头
flame /fleɪm/ n. 火焰
trap /træp/ v. 困住、限制住

The Notre Dame's height also posed a challenge, providing extra oxygen for the fire to breathe and complicating efforts to reach the flames. "The fuel load is way up in the air, and the firefighters can't get to it quickly," said Glenn Corbett, associate professor of fire science at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

pose /pəʊz/ v. 引起（麻烦、问题等）
oxygen /ˈɒksɪdʒən/ n. 氧气
complicate /ˈkɒmplɪkeɪt/ v. 使复杂、使难办
fuel load 指着火点周围的所有可燃物
way /weɪ/ adv. 远远（表示强调）
associate /əˈsəʊʃiət/ professor 副教授

Aerial options like the one suggested by US President Donald Trump were also considered unrealistic. "Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!" Trump said in a tweet. But according to Corbett, no plane pilot could drop water "exactly in that one spot moving several hundred kilometers an hour over it."

aerial /ˈeəriəl/ adj. 空中的
consider /kənˈsɪdə(r)/ v. 看作
unrealistic /ˌʌnrɪəˈlɪstɪk/ adj. 不切实际的（由realistic加上表示否定的前缀un-）
tanker /ˈtæŋkə(r)/ n. 装载液体的车辆或飞机
put out 熄灭、扑灭
act /ækt/ v. 采取行动
tweet /twiːt/ n. 一条推特消息（类似于一条微博）
spot /spɒt/ n. 地点

Corbett also ruled out the use of helicopters: "One of the issues you've got here, is that thermal updraft. That's a chimney effectively. You can't fly a helicopter in hot air because the air is so thin."

rule out something 排除某事的可能性
helicopter /ˈhelɪˌkɒptə(r)/ n. 直升机
thermal /ˈθɜːm(ə)l/ adj. 热的
updraft /ˈʌpdrɑːft/ n. 向上的气流
chimney /ˈtʃɪmni/ n. 烟囱
effectively /ɪˈfektɪvli/ adv. 实际上
thin /θɪn/ adj. 稀薄的

The French civil security agency, Securite Civile, said in an apparent reference to Trump's suggestion that any aerial water dumping could "weaken the structure of Notre-Dame and result in collateral damage to the buildings in the vicinity."

civil /ˈsɪv(ə)l/ adj. 民事的、民用的（指非军警的）
security /sɪˈkjʊərəti/ n. 安全保卫
agency /ˈeɪdʒ(ə)nsi/ n. 政府机构
apparent /əˈpær(ə)nt/ adj. 看起来是
reference /ˈref(ə)r(ə)ns/ n. 提到（由refer加后缀-ence变成名词）
dump /dʌmp/ v. 倒出、倾倒
weaken /ˈwiːk(ə)n/ v. 弱化、削弱（由weak加后缀-en变成动词）
structure /ˈstrʌktʃə(r)/ n. 结构
result in 导致、造成
collateral /kəˈlæt(ə)r(ə)l/ damage 附带损害
vicinity /vɪˈsɪnəti/ n. 周边地区

Despite the huge challenges, the 400 firefighters were able to save a significant proportion of the cathedral. The spire and most of the roof of the centuries-old cathedral have been destroyed, but the two bell towers and the main edifice（大型建筑） were saved.

significant /sɪɡˈnɪfɪk(ə)nt/ adj. 显著的
proportion /prəˈpɔːʃ(ə)n/ n. 占比、比例
cathedral /kəˈθiːdrəl/ n. 大教堂
spire /spaɪə(r)/ n. 尖顶、塔尖
bell tower 钟楼

"The fact that they were able to control the fire spread as much as they did and save a large portion of the building, including the two bell towers, it's a tremendous effort," said Favre. "I think any firefighter that you ask who does this for a living would tell you that this is a significant firefighting event and those firefighters should be praised significantly."

spread /spred/ v. 扩散
portion /ˈpɔːʃ(ə)n/ n. 部分、份额
tremendous /trɪˈmendəs/ adj. 巨大的、极好的
do something for a living 以某事为职业
firefighting /ˈfaɪəˌfaɪtɪŋ/ n. 消防（由fire和fighting组成）
significantly /sɪɡˈnɪfɪk(ə)ntli/ adv. 重大地（由significant加后缀-ly变成副词）

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