加州（加利福尼亚州）位于美国西部，和中国隔着太平洋遥遥相望，因为黄金而闻名世界。加州淘金热是美国西进运动中的重要一环（历史不及格的童鞋回去复习一下= =），所以也被称为金州。近年的NBA总冠军“金州”勇士队也由此而来。
这里有旧金山（著名的旧金山唐人街）、洛杉矶等美国大城市，拥有伯克利、斯坦福，加州理工等众多的世界名校，著名的硅谷也坐落其中。如果把加州视为一个独立国家，它的经济规模已经超过了英国，排到全球第五。如果说这里是天堂，相信没有多少人会质疑。（加州也是美国华人最多的州）然而，最近天堂却变成了炼狱。
从2018 年 11 月 8 日开始，加州南部爆发了有史以来最大的一次山火，几乎就是在同一天之内，加州连续发生了多场大规模的山林大火，火舌前锋直指洛杉矶，直至11月22日，已经造成83人死亡，560多人失联，目前大火90%得到控制。
王老师从facebook和youtube上截了一些图，带着大家走近加州，去看一看这场史无前例的加州大火。
大家可以在这张GIF上看到流动的车辆灯光
以及近在咫尺的山火。
在直升飞机中拍摄，
被火光映射至变色的天空
NASA公布的卫星云图，
可以清楚的分辨出加州大火
下图中燃烧的植被呈褐色，
未燃烧的呈绿色。
另外建筑物，道路和其他发达地区呈浅灰色和白色。
大火除了波及城市以及人群
同样对动物造成了严重的伤害
A minute of silence for all the animals
who lost their lives in the California Forest Fire.
祝愿灾区平安
以下附上美国之音的新闻，同学们可以自行练习下听力。
Officials: About 100 People Still Missing after California Fires
官员称加州大火还有100多人失踪
About 100 people are still missing in the deadliest wildfire in California's history.
大约还有100人在加州这场史上最致命的山火中失踪。
Officials have released the names of the missing people. Many are older people, in their 80s and 90s. The fires, near both ends of the state, have claimed the lives of at least 51 people, with 48 dead in Northern California and three in Southern California.
官员们已经公布了失踪人员的名单，其中许多是八九十岁的老人。在该州两端附近发生的火灾至少已夺走了51人的生命，其中北加州有48人死亡，南加州有3人死亡。
Friends and relatives seeking information about loved ones posted messages and photos in the Northern California town of Chico.
打听亲人音讯的亲朋好友们在北加州的奇科镇发布了消息和照片。
"I hope you are okay," read one note. Another had a picture of a missing man: "If seen, please have him call."
其中一张纸条写道写道：“我希望你平安无事。”另一张纸条上面有失踪男子的照片，上面写着“看到他，请让他打个电话。”
Sol Bechtold is searching for his 75-year-old mother, Joanne Caddy. He said some of the missing people are not on the list released by the government. Caddy's house burned down along with the rest of Magalia. The area is just north of Paradise, a town of 27,000, that was completely destroyed by the fire last week.
索尔·贝克托尔德(Sol Bechtold)正在寻找他75岁的母亲乔安妮·凯蒂(Joanne Caddy)。他说，有些失踪人员不在政府公布的名单上。凯蒂的房子和马加利亚小镇的其它房子一起被烧掉了。这是加州天堂镇以北一个有2.7万人口的小镇，该镇上周在大火中被彻底烧毁。
Bechtold said he spoke with the sheriff's office Wednesday morning. They confirmed they have a missing person's case on his mother Caddy. But Caddy, who lived alone and did not drive, was not on the list.
贝克托尔德称他周三早上同警长办公室进行了沟通。他们证实已经对凯蒂做了失踪人口登记。但是独居又不会开车的凯蒂不在名单上。
Greg Gibson was hoping to find information about his neighbors in Paradise. He wondered if they had tried to escape or had stayed a few minutes too long.
格雷格·吉布森(Greg Gibson)希望找到他在天堂镇的邻居的消息。他想知道他们是否逃走了，还是晚了几分钟。
Gibson said, "It happened so fast."
吉布森表示：“这(指火灾)发生得太快了。”
He spoke from the Neighborhood Church in Chico. The church serves as a shelter for some of the more than 1,000 who escaped from the fire.
他在奇科镇的社区教堂做了讲话。这所教堂是1000多名逃离火灾的人们的避难所。
Harold Taylor is a 72-year-old Vietnam veteran. Walking with a cane, he said he received a call Thursday morning to leave immediately as the fire was coming up behind his house.
哈罗德·泰勒(Harold Taylor)是一位72岁的越战老兵。他拄着拐杖边走边说，他周四早上接到电话通知立即撤离，当时火灾正从他房子背后烧过来。
"We didn't have 10 minutes to get out of there," he said. "It was already in flames downtown, all the local restaurants and stuff," he said.
他说：“我们从那里撤离的时间不到10分钟。当时市中心，包括所有当地餐厅之类的都已经烧起来了。”
Along the way, he asked his neighbor to get in his car and leave with him, but the neighbor chose not to. Taylor does not know what happened to that person.
在路上，他叫邻居上车跟他一起走，但是这位邻居选择不走。泰勒不知道这位邻居命运如何。
Before the Paradise fire, the deadliest single fire on record in California was in 1933 in Los Angeles' Griffith Park that killed 29 people.
在天堂镇大火之前，加州历史上最致命的单次火宅发生在1933年的洛杉矶格里菲斯公园，造成了29人死亡。
In Southern California, firefighters have made progress against another huge fire in Malibu. That fire has killed two people and destroyed over 400 structures.
在南加州，消防队员们在扑灭马里布的另一场大火中取得了进展。那场大火造成了两人丧生，烧毁了400多座建筑物。
I'm Mario Ritter.
马里奥·里特报道。
