新西兰英语 752 Drought in North Island

 　　There has been no rain for months now in most of the North Island. This summer has been hotter than usual with record sunshine hours. For people on holiday, this has been the best summer for many years.

　　However, for farmers it has been terrible. No rain means no grass. No grass means animals have no food. There are cracks in the bare soil in some places. In other places, the grass is dry and yellow. Farmers are worried about how to feed their animals. The cost of hay¹ is very high. Dairy² cows are not producing as much milk as usual. Many farmers are selling their animals to the meat works³.

　　Last week the government said that Northland was a drought⁴ area. This means farmers can delay paying their tax. Farmers in other areas such as Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay and Auckland want to the government to do the same for their areas.

　　Fire has been a problem in many places this summer. Some water reservoirs⁵ have dried up. This makes it hard to fight fires.

　　The drought will affect the country’s economy. Dairy products are our number one exports and less milk means less income for farmers and for our economy.

　　Vocabulary

　　?drought – no rain for a long time

　　?record sunshine – more than any other years

　　?bare soil – no grass on that soil

　　?meat works – place where animals are killed for meat, abattoirs⁶

　　?delay – postpone⁷, pay it later

　　?water reservoirs – storage lakes

　　?fight fires – this is an idiom

　　?dairy products – e.g. butter, cheese, milk powder

　　Grammar

　　?A means B is another way to show a cause and effect. We could also say, ‘The drought has affected⁸ the growth of grass.’ Or ‘The poor growth of grass is the result of the drought.’ Or ‘The poor growth of grass is because of the drought.’

　　?There is / are / was/ were / has been / have been – this is a very useful way to start a sentence: ‘There has been no rain …’ ‘There are cracks in the soil.’

　　Pronunciation

　　Note how to say drought. Those ough words are very difficult in English. Most of them have different pronunciation e.g. cough, though, thought, ought, sought, tough, enough. Check your dictionary to see how to pronounce them.

1 hay   

n.(用作饲料或覆盖的)干草

参考例句：

• Cows feed on hay.奶牛以干草为生。
• They usually keep the hay in the barn.他们通常将干草存放在谷仓中。

2 dairy   

n.牛奶场，乳品店；adj.乳制品的

参考例句：

• The yogurt sold by this dairy is delicious.这家乳品店出售的酸奶非常好喝。
• He kept a few dairy cows.他养了几头奶牛。

3 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

4 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。

5 reservoirs   

n.水库( reservoir的名词复数 )；储藏；大量的储备；储液槽

参考例句：

• We must make use of our untapped reservoirs of talent. 我们必须利用我们尚未利用的人才。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The big storms in August refilled the reservoirs. 八月的暴雨又使水库积满了水。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 abattoirs   

n.屠场( abattoir的名词复数 )；（拳击、摔跤、斗牛等的）角斗场

参考例句：

• All that talk about abattoirs turned me right off! 关于屠宰场的那些话让我十分恶心。 来自互联网
• They take more care and have a greater number of staff than more intensive abattoirs. 他们更注意生产，比那些更密集的屠宰场拥有更多的雇员。 来自互联网

7 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。