新西兰英语 746 Rain

 　　Farmers welcomed the rain which began in the weekend. A few areas had 10 to 40mm of rain but many places had only drizzle¹ or scattered² showers today. This is a good start but not enough. The drought³ is so severe that a few days of light rain will do nothing much. Farmers need at least 100mm of rain in the next two weeks so that grass can grow before the cold weather begins.

　　This wet weather will pass over New Zealand tomorrow or the next day. After that the warm dry weather will probably return.

　　Almost the whole of the North Island is suffering from drought and some parts of the South Island. New Zealand main exports are from agriculture and horticulture. The government says that the drought could cost the economy $2bn. For New Zealand people, we can expect to pay more for milk and meat.

　　Listen to March 4th 2013 to hear more about the drought.

　　Vocabulary

　　?drizzle – very light rain, close to mist⁴

　　?scattered showers – rain for a short time and then fine in different areas

　　?drought – no rain for a long time

　　?severe – serious, causing a lot of damage

　　?agriculture – farming animals

　　?horticulture – growing plants e.g. fruit, vegetables and flowers

1 drizzle   

v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨

参考例句：

• The shower tailed off into a drizzle.阵雨越来越小，最后变成了毛毛雨。
• Yesterday the radio forecast drizzle,and today it is indeed raining.昨天预报有小雨，今天果然下起来了。

2 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

3 drought   

n.旱灾，干旱，久旱

参考例句：

• The plants are growing in again,despite the drought.尽管干旱，植物又长出来了。
• The ground is as hard as stone after the drought.长期干旱后土地硬得就像石头一样。

4 mist   

n.雾，迷蒙，朦胧不清；vt.使...模糊，蒙上雾；vi.使...模糊，下雾

参考例句：

• She saw his face through a mist of tears.她泪眼朦胧地望着他的脸。
• There is a film of mist over the land.大地上笼罩着一层薄雾。