英语听力精选进阶版 6341

Get into conversation with someone from Britain and they will invariably mention the weather.

It plays an important role in people's lives and determines their mood. But there is one climatic condition that is bound to make us complain – the rain.

Britain is currently splashing and squelching¹ its way through probably the wettest June on record. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised as the UK is used to the wet stuff, coming in all forms from light drizzle² to a heavy downpour.

With so many outdoor events and festivals taking place this summer you would think all the British want is a long spell of warm sunshine. But London's Olympic opening ceremony next month will see fake clouds hovering⁴ over the stadium providing a dampening just in case the real stuff fails to rain on the parade.

But despite our familiarity with precipitation our vocabulary to describe it is limited. The Inuit people allegedly have 50 words to describe snow because they see so much of it, although Geoff Pullman, a linguist⁵ from Edinburgh University says "…the idea is neither empirically true nor practically necessary… as humans we experience lots of variety in everyday life but we don't try to bring it under linguistic⁶ observation."

Given that, the British could be forgiven for having just a handful of words. However colloquial⁷ English gives meteorological terms a bit more colour. A few drops of rain is described as spitting and one of the most descriptive phrases for heavy rain is it's raining stair-rods. There's also chucking it down and bucketing down which conjures⁸ up a picture of some heavenly creature emptying buckets of water from above, drenching⁹ the miserable¹⁰ folk below. But the weather you might want to most avoid is when it's raining cats and dogs– a rather cruel way of describing torrential rain.

Quiz 测验

1. According to the article, what weather do British people complain most about?

The British complain most about the rain.

2. In terms of rainfall, what is June most likely to be?

Probably the wettest June on record.

3. What will hover³ above the Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony?

Fake rain clouds.

4. True, false or not given: The Inuit people have 50 words to describe rain.

False. The Inuit people allegedly have 50 words to describe snow.

5. What colloquial expression is used when there are just a few drops of rain?

It's spitting with rain.

Glossary 词汇表

climatic condition 天气状况

splashing 溅水的声音

drizzle 小雨

spell (of weather) 一段时间

precipitation 雨水

meteorological 气象的

(raining) stair-rods 倾盆大雨

bucketing down 大雨倾盆

drenching 全身浸透

raining cats and dogs 倾盆大雨

1 squelching   

v.发吧唧声，发扑哧声( squelch的现在分词 )；制止；压制；遏制

参考例句：

• I could hear his broken shoes squelching in the water. 我可以听到他的破鞋在水中格喳格喳作响。 来自辞典例句
• The armies got bogged down in the thick squelching mud. 军队都陷入泥沼中，行进时烂泥扑哧作声。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

4 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

5 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

6 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

7 colloquial   

adj.口语的，会话的

参考例句：

• It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
• They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。

8 conjures   

用魔术变出( conjure的第三人称单数 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• The word 'birthday' conjures up images of presents and parties. “生日”这个词使人想起礼物和聚会的情景。
• The name Sahara conjures up images of a desert of aridity. "撒哈拉"这个名字使人想起干旱的沙漠情景。

9 drenching   

n.湿透v.使湿透( drench的现在分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• A black cloudburst was drenching Siena at midday. 中午，一场天昏地暗的暴风雨在锡耶纳上空倒下来。 来自辞典例句
• A drenching rain poured down and the rising hurricane drove it in sheets along the ground. 一阵倾盆大雨泼下来了，越来越大的狂风把它顺着地面刮成了一片一片的雨幕。 来自辞典例句

10 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。