Let’s read aloud first. 最初に声を出して読んでみましょう。
Australia’s southern and eastern agricultural regions are troubled by a months-long plague of mice that has destroyed crops and overwhelmed farmers. The plague comes after years of drought, devastating wildfires and a period of heavy rain. The mice first appeared in the spring of 2020 when farmers were harvesting a plenty of crop. There was plenty of grain in the silos for the mice to eat. The people have been taking illegal chemicals from India to wipe out a plague of mice. 5000 litters of poison were taken from India. This is a crisis especially in New South Wales. Wildfires and floods also have destroyed the crops. It is very difficult to put out the wildfire. Agriculture in Australia was getting tough. Farmers were finding it difficult to save their crops. Things were getting out of control.
plague (異常発生), overwhelm (困らせる), devastating (破壊する), wildfire (自然に発生する山火事), put out (消火をする)
Questions:
- What are the three problems for farmers in Australia?
- Are wildfires easy to put out?
- Why do many mice become problem?
- What did the farmers do to solve the mice plague problem?
- Where was the crisis especially seen?
- Can floods destroy crops? Explain.
- Have you seen a lot of mice? Where?
- What is your opinion?