原文
Firemen had been fighting the forest fire for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by airplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries, patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.
译文
消防队员扑灭森林大火是在火势得到控制之后的三个星期。在一段时间之前，绿色的森林覆盖了这里的乡村。现在，烟还是从山上温暖的地方升起。冬天快要来到了，这些山对于城镇来说有危险，大雨虽然不会冲走土壤，但是会引起大洪水。当大火最终被扑灭，森林的管理者尽可能快速播种大量草籽。他们通过飞机快速播撒草籽。在飞机种植草籽将近一个月后，雨开始下了。这样，很多地方的草都开始生根了。在这些地方中间将要种上绿色树木，绿色又将从新出现在这片黑色的大地上。