2010/09/02

This Day in History September 2

Years ago, nothing was more important or dangerous than fire. Its importance was to heat homes, cook meals, and aid tasks. Its danger is easily seen in the Great Fire of London, which started at a bakery shortly after midnight on this date in 1666. The fire grew and spread quickly. In those days, the way to stop a fire was to demolish things in its path to prevent spreading. However, the fire proved to be too big by the time this technique was initiated. It burned for three more days and destroyed a lot of London. It is unknown how many people were killed, but 70,000 out of the 80,000 residents in the area were left homeless.

歷史上的今天 9月2日

在 多年以前,沒有什麼東西比火來得重要抑或危險的了。火的重要在於它能溫暖家中、煮食,以及協助進行多種作業。它的危險性則在1666年今日所發生的倫敦大 火中顯而易見。午夜剛過不久,這場大火的火苗自一家麵包坊竄出,並且很快延燒開來。在那個年代,熄滅火災的方法就是將竄燒路線上的東西拆除,以防止火勢蔓 延。不過事後顯示在開始使用這種滅火技巧時,火勢已變得過於猛烈。這場火災繼續肆虐了3天,將大部分的倫敦都毀滅殆盡。雖然在大火中死亡的人數不明,但是 當地8萬居民中有7萬人都因此無家可歸。

知識大補帖

倫敦大火(圖為描述當時在泰晤士河對岸看大火情景的畫作,翻攝網路) 雖然使得上萬居民流離失所,不過卻解決了自1665年以來發生的倫敦大瘟疫(The Great Plague of London)。這場瘟疫實為一場鼠疫,在倫敦當地造成了6萬多人死亡。雖然大火燒毀了大半座城市,卻也同時將藏匿於各個角落的大量老鼠燒死。而且重建後 的倫敦以石頭房子代替了原有木造房屋,環境衛生(sanitation)也得到改善,使得瘟疫不再爆發。

單字片語

◎heat
vt. & vi. 加熱,(使)變熱
例:The soup is cold. Let me heat it up for you.(湯涼了。我來幫你熱一下吧。)
◎demolish
vt. 拆除,拆毀
例:A number of houses had to be demolished so that the new stadium could be built.(為了蓋那棟體育場,有好幾間房子必須被拆除。)
◎prove (to be) + N/adj.
顯示……;證明是……
例:The countrys new labor policy has been proven to be a total disaster.(那個國家的新勞工政策最後證明徹底失敗。)
◎technique
n. 技巧,手法
◎initiate
vt. 開始實施;發起

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