GMAT 讀新聞 20180808

來自專欄 GMAT 學習

Trump Inaccurately Claims California Is Wasting Water as Fires Burn

Source :New York Times

In his first remarks on the vast California wildfires that have killed at least seven people and forced thousands to flee, President Trump blamed the blazes on the state』s environmental policies and inaccurately claimed that water that could be used to fight the fires was 「foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean.」

長句分析/ 句子結構：

X， President Trump (主語) blamed (謂語) the blazes on someone and ( 連讀，並列結構) claimed (謂語) Y.

X: In his first remarks on the vast California wildfires that have killed at least seven people and forced thousands to flee 狀語，修飾President Trump. (Noun modifier)

Y: that water that could be used to fight the fires was 「foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. 定語從句， 修飾claim.

State officials and firefighting experts dismissed the president』s comments, which(1) he posted on Twitter. 「We have plenty of water to fight these wildfires, but let』s be clear: It』s our changing climate that is leading to more severe and destructive fires,」 said Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director of Cal Fire, the state』s fire agency(2).

語法：

1. comma+which』, 修飾緊前的名字comments, President Trump posted the comments on Twitter.

2. assistant deputy director of Cal Fire, the state』s fire agency, 同位語，修飾Daniel Berlant.

He and others said that Mr. Trump appeared to be referring to a perennial and unrelated water dispute in California between farmers and (3) environmentalists. Farmers have long argued for more water to be allocated to irrigating crops, while (4) environmentalists counter that the state』s rivers would suffer and fish stocks would die.

語法：

3. Between A and B. Between 之後一定要跟著and.

4. while 做為連詞連接兩個句子，同But, 錶轉折。

The president first addressed the fires late Sunday, writing on Twitter(5), 「California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren』t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized.」 He also referred to a debate in forest management about the effectiveness of removing trees and vegetation as a fire control method.

語法：

5. Present Participle with comma --「writing on Twitter」 – 是adverbial modifier, 修飾 『address the fires』

On Monday, Mr. Trump expanded on his comments in another tweet, for a second time referring to water being diverted into the ocean(6).

語法：

6. 同5. Referring to 為adverbial modifier, 修飾expanded 這個動詞。 For a second time 為起來補充修飾作為，做分解句子結構時可以刪掉。

The remarks came hours after the White House declared the wildfires a 「major disaster」 and ordered that federal funding be made available to help recovery efforts.

句子結構：

並列結構：謂語declare and order為並列結構，主語為White House.

Is there a water shortage?

California does not lack water to fight the Carr Fire and others burning across the state(7), officials said.

語法

7. Present participate without commas --Burning across the state –作為名詞修飾語（noun modifier） 修飾緊前的Carr fire and others (other fires)

Mr. Berlant of Cal Fire declined to speculate on the meaning of Mr. Trump』s statement that water was not being 「properly utilized.」

Asked about that line and the president』s claim that water was being diverted into the Pacific, a spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown, Evan Westrup, said in an email, 「Your guess is as good as mine.」

句子結構：

句子核心結構為a spokesman said in an email, 「you guess is as good as mine」

Asked about that line…….為獨立主格結構，邏輯主語為spokesman, 語態為被動態： spokesman 被問到….

The White House did not respond to requests for clarification on Mr. Trump』s statement.

William Stewart, a forestry specialist at the University of California, Berkeley8, said he believed Mr. Trump was referring to the battle over allocating water to irrigation versus providing river habitat for fish.

語法：

a forestry specialist at the University of California, Berkeley 為主語 William Stewart 同位語。

That debate has no bearing on the availability of water for firefighting. Helicopters lower buckets into lakes and ponds to collect water that is then used to douse wildfires, and there is no shortage of water to do so, Cal Fire officials said.

California water regulators are preparing to negotiate how much water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta should flow to California』s farms and how much should flow down the river and to the ocean to ensure fish have enough fresh water to spawn and hatch. The issue has long pitted environmentalists against the state』s farming communities.

句子結構：

並列結構。 兩個how much 並列， 並列結構要一致。

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr. Trump took on the farmers』 grievances in language similar to his tweets this week.

「You have a water problem that is so insane, it is so ridiculous, where they』re taking the water and shoving it out to sea,」 he said during a May 2016 campaign rally in Fresno. 「They have farms up here, and they don』t get water.」

Recently, California Republicans encouraged the Trump administration to weigh in on the issue, inviting Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to the Central Valley to discuss water rights in the state』s agricultural heartland.