新西兰英语 640 Storms at weekend

 　　Strong wind and heavy rain hit Wellington in the weekend. The rain which began on the West Coast of the South Island, travelled up the North Island, making driving difficult for families travelling home at the end of the school holidays.

　　The rain is continuing to fall in many places and Regional Councils¹ are watching rivers. The Whanganui River will reach its peak² later tonight at high tide but will probably not reach the city bridge.

　　The rain was very heavy on the West Coast of the South Island. Buller had 280mm of rain in 36 hours. The Buller River flooded some low-lying farm land. State Highway 73 at Arthurs Pass was closed by land slips³. Nelson and Marlborough also were worried about floods.

　　In the central North Island, State Highway 1 is closed tonight because of flooding. Slips on the road have closed parts of State Highway 2 and 3.

　　Meanwhile on the East Coast of the South Island, the sun shone and temperatures reached 22 degrees on Sunday in Christchurch. This is a record winter temperature for July.

　　Tomorrow a high pressure area from the Tasman Sea will bring fine weather for the next few days.

　　Vocabulary

　　Note the adjectives for wind and rain: strong wind, heavy rain (opposite: light wind, light rain)

　　peak – highest point

　　low-lying – not high land

　　slips – rocks and mud from the hill slip down onto the road

1 councils   

n.委员会( council的名词复数 )；（郡、镇等）政务会；（尤指旧时讨论特定步骤的）协商会议；市政（或地方管理）服务机构

参考例句：

• It is one of the most notoriously corrupt city councils. 那是贪污腐败最为臭名昭著的市参议会之一。 来自辞典例句
• Local councils should use their powers to ensure strict observance of laws. 地方政务委员会应当行使权力以保证人们严格遵守法律。 来自辞典例句

2 peak   

n.山峰，巅，山顶，顶点，尖峰，帽舌；adj.最高的，最大值的；vi.到达最高点，消瘦，变憔悴，逐渐缩小；vt.使竖起，使达到最高点

参考例句：

• Traffic reaches a peak between 8 and 9 in the morning.早晨八九点钟是交通的高峰时刻。
• He was the first to top the mountain peak.他是第一个登上这座山峰的人。

3 slips   

v.滑( slip的第三人称单数 )；滑脱；下降；（健康状况等）变差

参考例句：

• There are a few trivial slips in this lesson. 在这篇课文中有几个小错误。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He slips now and then in his grammar. 他不时地犯语法错误。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》