Smother: 使熄灭，使窒息

受60年来罕见的干旱天气影响，葡萄牙、西班牙、法国三国均陷于大规模森林火灾。在西班牙，为了阻止正在蔓延的森林大火接近以古罗马人的金矿遗迹闻名于世的拉斯梅德拉斯自然公园，政府6日出动200名消防员，使用飞机和推土机全力灭火。外电报道如下：Firefighters and water-dropping aircraft renewed efforts Tuesday to douse¹ fires that have burned about 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) of forest in a national park in southern Spain.

Two of the three fires that broke out in the Sierra de Cazorla region in Jaen province had been brought under control by midday Tuesday, the state-run news agency Efe reported. However, about 300 specialists were still working to tame the largest of the blazes.

A total of 38 firefighting aircraft resumed their efforts Tuesday to smother² the fire, believed to have been sparked by lightning. The blazes started late Sunday, and some 430 people have been evacuated³ from the area as a precaution, Efe said.

Smother意为“使熄灭，使窒息”，此外还常与in, with连用，表示“覆盖；掩盖”，例如：smother a child with kisses（批头盖脸的吻那孩子）；a grave smothered⁴ in flowers（盖满鲜花的坟墓）。

据悉，葡萄牙6日发生九处森林大火。葡政府已派出2000多名消防员并增援军人400名，但大火仍在肆虐。法国南部6日也爆发两处大火，目前火势已得到控制。