英伦广角 2011-04-26 热浪带来干旱恐惧

With most of us enjoying the wall to wall sunshine this bank holiday, the last thing we’ve been praying for is rain. For Ray Manning, the showers can’t come quickly enough. His family has been growing fruit in Cambridgeshire the last 4o years. They’ve not had rain for 7 weeks now, with no lakes or rivers to water his trees. He is in danger of losing his crops.

“We need really really need some rain. We’ve got full crops due to the wonderful sunny weather, high pollination¹. The bees have worked well. But now, we’re suffering from the drought. ”

The Environment Agency says that nationally we have 13% less rain in the last three months when compared to the yearly average. While forward drought planning means no hose pipe bans for now. It has left river levels low in the Southwest, central and Eastern England. And that means the farmers could be forced to reduce the amount of water they take out to irrigate² their crops.

Here in the Thames, river levels have been falling over the last few weeks. It also here in Cambridgeshire, we saw the lowest rainfall in March since 1929 with only 3.5 milliliters. Well, there’s still a plenty of water for us to enjoy the warm weather. There are worries about what means to farmers and also the wildlife living underneath³ the water.

Most reservoirs are at normal levels, but water companies aren’t ruling out the possibilities for restrictions⁴ if the dry weather continues. And that means more of us must use our water wisely.

“We use water bucket to conserve⁵ water wherever the water; there is in the garden. And we don’t use hose pipe in the garden. So that say, helps towards the problem.”

“In this country, it doesn’t seem stellar  is too long so we think before a long, we gonna have a lot of rain.”

“The garden, I’ve just given a little drop of water, so I left the other day, but not the hose pipe, because I don’t really want to use too much, just enough to keep them going.”

Over the coming weeks, there is no doubt that many eyes will be on the skies. The shortage of rain may have meant a bumper⁶ eastern break. But a few showers are needed if we don’t want to pay for it this summer.

Rihanna Mills ,Sky News.

1 pollination   

n.授粉

参考例句：

• The flowers get pollination by insects.这些花通过昆虫授粉。
• Without sufficient pollination,the growth of the corn is stunted.没有得到充足的授粉，谷物的长势就会受阻。

2 irrigate   

vt.灌溉，修水利，冲洗伤口，使潮湿

参考例句：

• The farmer dug several trenches to irrigate the rice fields.这个农民挖了好几条沟以灌溉稻田。
• They have built canals to irrigate the desert.他们建造成水渠以灌溉沙漠。

3 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！

6 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。