仰賴火和熱
A forest fire is often seen as a terrible disaster, bringing death and destruction to whatever lies in its path.
森林大火通常被視為恐怖的災害，其所到之處皆帶來死亡和破壞。
disaster (n.)災害；natural disaster 自然災害destruction(n.)破壞；destroy (v.)破壞
However, despite the potentially devastating effects of forest fires, they are actually a vital part of the forest ecosystem.
然而，撇開森林大火可能造成的毀滅性影響，森林大火其實是森林生態系統中很重要的一環。
despite (prep.)儘管devastating (adj.) 毀滅性的,令人震驚的vital (adj.) 重要的,必不可少的ecosystem (n.)生態系統
One important role of a forest fire is to clear out the forest floor.
森林大火一個重要的角色就是清除森林土表。
clear out 清除
A fire removes shrubs and small trees growing low on the forest floor, clears the floor of debris, allows sunlight to pass through, and nourishes the soil. This allows established trees to grow stronger and healthier.
大火可以移除灌木和土表上長得較低矮的樹、並清除地表的碎屑，讓陽光得以穿透並滋養土壤。這讓原有的樹更加強壯健康。
debris (n.)碎片,殘骸nourish (v.) 滋養,養育
Another reason fire is important is that some species of trees and plants actually depend on fire and require heat to open and release seeds to grow new trees.
另外一個大火之所以重要的原因是因為有些植物和樹木其實必需仰賴火和熱來打開及釋放出種子，進而長出新樹木。
species (n.)物種depend on 依賴,信任
Such plants actually promote fires by covering their leaves with flammable resins.
像這樣的植物其實會藉由讓它們的葉子覆滿易燃樹脂來增加大火的發生機率。
flammable (adj.)易燃的resin (n.) 樹脂
Without fires, these trees and plants would eventually die of old age with no offspring to continue their species.
如果沒有火災的話，這些樹木和植物最終將枯萎且沒有後代來延續它們的物種。
offspring (n.)後代
Nowadays, people think that the best thing to do is to put out forest fires as soon as possible.
現今，人們認為最好作法就是盡快將森林大火撲滅。
put out 熄滅
In reality, to maintain a healthy forest, it’s important to let fires burn in a manageable way and do their job.
事實上，為了維護健全的森林，最好是讓大火在可控制的情況下燃燒以發揮作用。
maintain (v.)維持,維護；maintain a healthy lifestyle 維持健康的生活型態；maintain good grades維持好成績