美国国家公共电台 NPR--Mexico City has turned into a furnace — and there are few airconditioned places

Mexico City has turned into a furnace — and there are few airconditioned places

Transcript¹

A heatwave is sweeping² across Mexico, and residents of its capital city are wilting³ in the unseasonable hot weather.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

For more than a week now, Mexico has been sizzling with daily highs in some places reaching 113 degrees. NPR's Eyder Peralta sends us this postcard from Mexico City, where temperatures have been hovering⁴ in the 90s.

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE⁵: This is not a city made for heat. We're at 7,349 feet above sea level. So the sun is hot, but the shade and the nights are almost always cool.

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)

PERALTA: But these last few weeks, Mexico City has turned into a furnace, and you can't really find respite⁶. There are few air-conditioned places, so people here head to the water fountains.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Laughter).

PERALTA: Julio Cesar Mendez had just dunked his head into the water.

JULIO CESAR MENDEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

PERALTA: "Now, imagine the subway," he says. "I've had sweat come out of places I never imagined." And sleep...

MENDEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

PERALTA: "We sleep how God brought us into the world."

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER FLOWING)

PERALTA: Sometimes it's easy to forget we're in the tropics here, but this week, it's felt like "Faulkner's Mississippi," a dizzying, delirious⁷ experience. A lady I spoke⁸ to was afraid she would get malaria⁹ even though it doesn't exist here. It made me think that not far from this park, the ancient Aztecs used to sacrifice children so Tlaloc, the god of rain, would take mercy and cover the sun with rain clouds.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Speaking Spanish).

PERALTA: Thankfully, these days, Mexicans just turn to aguas frescas, refreshing¹⁰ fruit juices. Maria Elena Cuatla Zacagua has been selling them here for 50 years, and she doesn't mind the heat.

MARIA ELENA CUATLA ZACAGUA: (Speaking Spanish).

PERALTA: When it's cloudy, she says, sales slump¹¹. But when it's hot, business is also hot. Plus, she says, she worked the fields when she was young, and that was hard. All the complainers, she says, are just being big babies.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

PERALTA: And maybe the universe heard her because suddenly a lazy summer day turns into a chance to dance, the heat be damned.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

PERALTA: Eyder Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

3 wilting   

萎蔫

参考例句：

• The spectators were wilting visibly in the hot sun. 看得出观众在炎热的阳光下快支撑不住了。
• The petunias were already wilting in the hot sun. 在烈日下矮牵牛花已经开始枯萎了。

4 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 respite   

n.休息，中止，暂缓

参考例句：

• She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
• Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。

7 delirious   

adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的

参考例句：

• He was delirious,murmuring about that matter.他精神恍惚，低声叨念着那件事。
• She knew that he had become delirious,and tried to pacify him.她知道他已经神志昏迷起来了，极力想使他镇静下来。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

10 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

11 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。