House Fires in Philadelphia and Charlotte
費城與夏洛特發生房屋火災
Introduction
Two houses burned on Friday morning. One fire was in Philadelphia and one was in Charlotte.
週五早上有兩棟房屋起火，一場發生在費城，另一場發生在夏洛特。
Main Body
A fire started at 4:45 a.m. in Philadelphia. A woman and her 4-year-old daughter were in the basement. The woman died. The child is very sick in the hospital.
費城在凌晨 4 點 45 分發生火災。一名女性與她 4 歲的女兒當時在地下室。該名女性不幸喪生，孩子目前在醫院治療，情況危急。
Police closed a road for a short time. They do not know why the fire started.
警方短暫封閉了一條道路。目前尚不清楚起火原因。
Another fire started at 6:15 a.m. in Charlotte. The fire was on the roof of a house. Thirty firefighters worked for 40 minutes to stop the fire. No people were hurt in this fire.
夏洛特在早上 6 點 15 分發生了另一場火災。火災發生在房屋的屋頂上。30 名消防員工作了 40 分鐘才將火撲滅。此次火災無人受傷。
Conclusion
One woman died and one child is sick in Philadelphia. No one was hurt in Charlotte.
費城有一名女性死亡，一名兒童受傷。夏洛特則無人受傷。
Vocabulary Learning
🕰️ Talking About Time
In the story, we see how to say exactly when things happen. This is key for A2 level storytelling.
The Pattern:
Time a.m. (morning) / p.m. (afternoon/night)
Examples from the text:
- 4:45 a.m.
- 6:15 a.m.
Simple Rule: Put the number first, then the colon (:), then the minutes. Add a.m. if it happens before lunch.
🛠️ Describing Duration
How do we say how long something took?
The Phrase:
worked for [Time amount]
From the text:
- "worked for 40 minutes"
Try this logic: I studied for 10 minutes. He slept for 8 hours. They waited for 5 minutes.