Take Away English-The Great Storm 20 years on 大风暴20周年

A fallen tree crushes a car in London

On 16th October 1987, southern Britain was hit by hurricane force winds, the worst storm to occur in Britain since 1703.

Twenty years on, Britain is remembering the devastation¹ caused by what came to be known as 'The Great Storm.' 15 million trees across the region were uprooted² due to the wind, as well as the fact that a wet autumn in general had made the ground very muddy.

The falling trees caused destruction to buildings and vehicles and blocked roads and railway lines, causing everyone from commuters to school-children to stay at home.

There were also black-outs across the area, as power lines were damaged by falling trees and flying debris³. People resorted to candles and torches for light, and gas stoves and open fires to cook food.

The storm raged for 4 hours before dawn, and claimed 18 lives. The effects of the bad weather were heightened by the fact that most people were completely unprepared, because the weather forecasters were caught out.

Earlier that week, weather forecasts had predicted severe weather. But forecasters thought it would miss Britain, and only affect the English Channel. A weatherman, Michael Fish is infamous⁴ for saying the storm wouldn’t happen, though in fact he was talking about a hurricane in Florida at the time.

The freak storm caused damage of more than £1billion pounds (15 billion RMB), and hundreds of people sustained injuries.

But could the same thing happen today in Britain? Well, as a result of climate change many people think that sudden and severe weather changes are more likely. However, meteorological technology has improved, and now uses satellites to get a much more accurate picture of future weather. So if another Great Storm comes along, the British public should be better warned and prepared!

GLOSSARY 词汇表
hit by 遭受打击 devastation 灾难性破坏 destruction 破坏 black-out 停电；断电 resorted to 诉诸于; … raged 肆虐;持续 heightened 加重 weatherman 天气预报员 freak storm 破天荒的/不寻常的风暴 meteorological 气象学的	hurricane force winds 飓风般的大风 uprooted （大树）连根拔 commuters 乘公交车上下班的人 debris 废墟；瓦砾 open fires 明火 claimed 报道称 caught out 纰漏被发现 infamous 声名狼藉的 climate change 天气变化 the British public 英国公众

 

1 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

4 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。