新西兰英语 719 John Key in Antarctica

 　　Prime Minister John Key and his wife flew to Antarctica last night (Friday) for a three-day trip. The plan was for a four-day trip, leaving on Thursday evening but the weather in Antarctica was a problem.

　　So Thursday evening, John Key and his wife were dining at a restaurant in Christchurch when he fainted. He stood up, then fell. He was taken to hospital but doctors decided¹ that there was nothing wrong with his health. Perhaps he was suffering from jet lag as he had only just returned from an overseas trip or perhaps it was exhaustion². The job of Prime Minister is an exhausting one.

　　Today he hoped to fly to the South Pole but the flight was cancelled because of snow so instead he visited Captain Scott’s 1901 hut. He will host a dinner for US guests tonight. New Zealand and the US do a lot of scientific work together in the Antarctic. The US base at McMurdo Sound is only 5km from the New Zealand Scott Base.

　　New Zealand scientists in the Antarctic hope that John Key will realise the importance of their research and make sure the government provides funding for this research in the future.

　　Vocabulary

　　?fainted – collapsed³ for a short time

　　?jet lag –long aeroplane trips from countries which have a different time zone can cause tiredness or jet lag

　　?exhaustion (n), exhausting /exhausted⁴ (adj) – extreme tiredness; it is a very, very tiring job / he was exhausted (tired)

　　?fly (v), flight (n)

　　?research – scientific studies

　　?funding – money

　　Idiom

　　‘suffering from jet lag’

　　This is a useful idiom e.g. suffering from a cold / a headache / the flu / exhaustion

　　Notes

　　?the Antarctic (with definite article) or Antarctica (no article); the US (article) or USA (no article)

　　?‘the New Zealand Scott Base’ – here the definite article refers to the base not the name of the base

　　?pronunciation of ‘the’ before a vowel⁵ – ‘e’ becomes I: – however, before ‘u’ the usual pronunciation is possible

　　?‘a three-day trip’ – ‘three-day’ is an adjective and does not have a plural⁶ ending e.g. a two-year old child

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

5 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

6 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。