每天读一篇英语小故事：Carbon Monoxide

英语自学网

　　Helen stepped outside her front door to see what the weather was like. It
was sunny and warm. That was nice, because for the past two weeks it had been
cold and rainy. It had been so cold that she had had to turn her heater on. She
was lucky, because her heater worked and she could pay her heating bills.
        　　Some people in Los Angeles were not so lucky. Unable to use their home
heater, they placed charcoal into a barbecue grill and lit it. The heat kept
them warm, but the carbon monoxide killed them.
        　　This happens almost every winter in Los Angeles. People shut all the
windows tight to keep the cold out, then light the charcoal. Soon enough, the
oxygen in their home is consumed by the open flames. The family suffocates to
death.
        　　Everyone knows that smoke detectors are required in Los Angeles. But many
people don't know about, or don't think they need, carbon monoxide detectors.
They're not expensive. A $25 investment can save a family from death.
        　　People always think that nothing bad will happen to them; it always happens
to "the other guy." So they forget to put fresh batteries into their smoke
detectors annually, and they don't bother to buy carbon monoxide detectors.