英语博客(A cup of English):Hot, hot, hot

Beginners.

You will probably get tired of me writing about how hot it is. Yes, yes, Wenatchee is always hot in the summer. However, this year, it has been exceptionally¹ hot, like an oven. The past few weeks have each had several days of temperatures up to 106 degrees. You don't really see anyone around in the streets during the day, unless they are crazy....The early morning is wonderful, and late evening is very pleasant for a barbecue, a get together, or to do some gardening. I look out of my kitchen window during the day at my vegetable garden, longing² to go over there and check things out, but there is no way that I can. When you walk in this kind of heat, you feel like you are cooking. My temperature gauge³ has been much busier than usual, going up into the hundreds during the day, and then back down at night. Mind you, even at nine and ten o'clock at night, recently, it has stayed about 90 degrees. Even with a breeze, the temperatures can be problematic. Because the hills are so dry this time of year, there is a great risk of fire. All it takes is a careless action of throwing a cigarette out of the window, or perhaps a fork lightning strike, and a hazardous⁴ fire is on our hands. The sky around Wenatchee has been hazy⁵ towards the North for a few days, which means that there is probably a sage⁶ brush fire or a forest fire somewhere close by. It is similar conditions to those of the Mediterranean⁷ where the fires are raging. It's a hot time, and full of danger.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: a gauge, to rage, problematic, exceptionally.

Exs:

The temperature gauge on my car said that it was 120 degrees. I don't think that is accurate.

The bull⁸ went into a rage when he saw the red flag.

The situation is problematic. Not everyone will be happy about it.

That boy is exceptionally talented. He plays the piano like a master.

Advanced.

Don't you just long for shade in the middle of summer? I do. Am I a whimp? Should I be tougher and able to put up with the heat? But heat, I think, is almost more difficult to deal with than the cold. At least when it is cold, you can put lots of clothes on. When it is boiling hot and you are only wearing a bikini, there is nothing else you can take off! You have to escape and find air conditioning. And just pray that the electrical connection doesn't fail. I can't imagine what it is like at the moment in Greece where it is so, so hot, and where the fires are so many, and out of control. What can be done? What could be done? How could a government ensure that those kinds of disasters stop happening. In our area, we have fires during the summer most years. One thing that I have seen put in place are the fire barriers. They are long areas of land that have been cleared of trees and shrubs⁹, and which divide planted or forested areas into sections. They are just like wide, dirt roads. The object is to contain a fire. The wide, empty, dirt length stops fires blowing over into more planted areas. It works, in a preventative way. Another preventative measure that is quite common and inexpensive, is to clear forest floors of dead wood, which is often extremely dry and burns quickly. I remember hearing the news last year about fires in Greece which were believed to have been started deliberately¹⁰. There was a huge reward for information leading to the arrest of the arsonists¹¹. I hope they were caught. They should spend the rest of their lives planting trees.

Grammar notes.

Useful verbs: to long for, to spend (time/money), to put up with, to clear.

Exs:

I long for the cooler days. In a month they will be here.

We spent all morning together just walking and chatting. Then we went to the shops and spent all of our money.

I don't know how you put up with your neighbors. They are so noisy in the evenings!

The land was cleared of trees and bushes because an office building was going to be built there.

 

1 exceptionally   

ad.异常地

参考例句：

• The weather, even for January, was exceptionally cold. 这种天气即使在一月份也算得上非常寒冷。
• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night. 昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。

2 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

3 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

4 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

5 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

6 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

7 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

8 bull   

n.公牛，买进证券投机图利者，看涨的人

参考例句：

• It's only a hair off a bull's back to them.这对他们来说，不过九牛一毛。
• Many dogs closed around the bull.很多狗渐渐地把那只牛围了起来。

9 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

10 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

11 arsonists   

n.纵火犯( arsonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The factory was destroyed in a fire started by arsonists. 工厂在纵火犯引起的火灾中烧毀了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Australian Attorney-General Robert McClelland said suspected arsonists could face murder charges. 澳大利亚总检察长罗伯特麦克莱兰说，怀疑纵火犯可能面临谋杀指控。 来自互联网