新西兰英语 72 Southerly Blast

　　A southerly blast¹ swept through the south of New Zealand yesterday, bringing snow, sleet², hail³ and freezing temperatures. Southland had the worst of the front as it headed north, with up to 30cm of snow in Fiordland, 15cm in inland Southland and up to 5cm in Invercargill. MetService weather forecaster Ian Miller⁴ said the bad weather was likely to continue and it would be bitterly cold. There was a snow warning and further showers were forecast, with the possibility of snow showers to low levels. Snow and hail is common in Southland but snow in November is very unusual and probably a once in 20-year event.
Snow forced the Tour of Southland cycle officials to shorten⁵ the race after the worst conditions it has seen in more than 50 years. Tour leader Gordon McCauley had never seen anything like it. He said he had never seen such bad conditions in his 22 years of bike racing⁶ and he was happy when it started snowing because the snow doesn’t hurt as much as the hail. One rider was taken by ambulance to Southland Hospital after a crash during the morning, while an Australian rider was treated for hypothermia.
The vineyard owners were fearful⁷ the frost and snow would damage vines⁸ and could cause them to lose a lot of money. Crawford Brown, owner of a vineyard in Central Otago said if the vines were damaged, it would be “devastating for the season”. Sometimes, vineyard owners pay for helicopters to fly above and make a wind which stops the frost from settling on the vines. In the past, vineyard owners used smoke pots: they lit smoky fires to stop the frost but this causes air pollution so it is not used much these days.
Two schools closed for the day as the buses were not running and Milford Road was temporarily closed. Southern police reported no serious accidents but advised motorists to be careful.
Contributed by Anita Jones

1 blast   

v.炸毁，摧毁；n.爆炸，爆破，一阵，汽笛声

参考例句：

• A huge bomb blast rocked central London last night.昨晚一次剧烈的炸弹爆炸震动了伦敦市中心。
• Not until last week was the project in full blast.工程直到上星期才全部开工。

2 sleet   

n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹

参考例句：

• There was a great deal of sleet last night.昨夜雨夹雪下得真大。
• When winter comes,we get sleet and frost.冬天来到时我们这儿会有雨夹雪和霜冻。

3 hail   

n.雹，一阵；vi.下雹；vt.高呼，为...喝彩

参考例句：

• Hail fell with such violence that it broke windows.冰雹猛落，把玻璃窗也砸破了。
• The people lined the streets to hail the returning heroes.人们夹道欢迎凯旋的英雄们。

4 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

5 shorten   

vt.弄短，缩小，减少

参考例句：

• Minor accidents can shorten the life of a car.小事故会缩短汽车寿命。
• My dress is too long I must shorten it.我的连衣裙太长了，我得把它截短些。

6 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

7 fearful   

adj.惧怕的，担心的；可怕的，吓人的

参考例句：

• What a fearful waste of time!简直太浪费时间了！
• They are fearful of another business depression.他们担心会再次发生商业萧条。

8 vines   

n.藤本植物，藤( vine的名词复数 )；葡萄树

参考例句：

• Melons grow on vines. 瓜长在藤上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Grape vines overarched the garden path. 葡萄藤在花园小路上方形成了拱形。 来自《简明英汉词典》