英国下起“苹果雨” 能砸出多少个牛顿来？

 　　After a series of storm warnings, drivers in the evening rush hour were prepared for almost anything. Except, that is, for it to start raining apples.

　　因为此前一直收到一连串的风暴警报，所以傍晚下班高峰期的司机们都已经做好迎接各种恶劣天气的准备了。不过他们可能没想到的是，天上竟然下起了苹果雨。

　　Scores of them battered¹ car roofs and windscreens before landing in the road at a busy junction² in Coundon, Coventry. The deluge³ of fruit brought traffic to a standstill at 6.45pm on Monday.

　　苹果从天而降，砸在英国考文垂市的一条交通繁忙的大街上。事故发生在周一下午的6：45，不少汽车的车顶和挡风玻璃被砸到。苹果的突然袭击造成了当地交通的短暂中断。

　　One motorist, who was travelling with her husband, said: ‘The apples fell out of nowhere. They were small and green and hit the bonnet⁴ hard. Everyone had to stop their cars suddenly.’

　　一对自驾车旅行的夫妇表示：“苹果不知打哪儿突然掉下来，个头很小的青苹果，狠狠地砸中了我们汽车的引擎盖。大家都不得不急刹车。”

　　The phenomenon is believed to be down to a mini tornado⁵ which touched down elsewhere, sucking apples from the ground or from trees. Such a powerful vacuum could have travelled for many miles before the tornado’s energy dissipated, depositing the fruit over Coventry.

　　据信这一现象可能是由于附近某处的果园有小型的龙卷风出现，把苹果从地上或树上揪下来了。龙卷风像强力吸尘器一般，在能量消散前带着这些苹果飞了一段路，最后把苹果掉在了考文垂的大街上。

　　Another theory is that the apples could have fallen from the hold of a plane.

　　还有一种说法认为苹果是从路过的飞机上掉下来的。

　　Brian Meakins, 63, was stunned⁶ when he opened his front door and found his garden full of smashed apples. The retired⁷ forklift truck driver said: ‘At first I assumed kids must have thrown them because we do get the occasional egg and apple thrown but there’s way too many for that.’

　　63岁的退休叉车司机Brian Meakins表示，在他打开前门看见花园里一片狼藉满地砸碎的苹果时，简直是目瞪口呆。“我开始以为是淘气的孩子们捣乱，他们有时间会把鸡蛋或苹果丢到我们家院子里。不过这次看起来也太多了点！”

　　Jim Dale, senior meteorologist from British Weather Services, said the event was probably caused by ‘returning polar maritime⁸ air’.

　　英国气象服务的高级气象学家Jim Dale表示这场苹果雨很有可能是因为回流的极地海洋气团造成的。

　　‘Essentially these events are caused when a vortex of air, kind of like a mini tornado, lifts things off the ground rising up into the atmosphere until the air around it causes them to fall to earth again.

　　“实际上这些都是由于气流漩涡引起的，这有点像小型的龙卷风。气流把物体从地面举起来，上升到大气中，直到周围的空气再次让他们降落到地面上。”

　　‘We’ve all heard of fish and frogs falling from the sky and apples is certainly unusual because they have some weight to them but it is not out of the realms of possibility.’

　　“以前我们都听说过鱼和青蛙从天空中掉下来的事件，不过苹果还蛮少见的，因为苹果有点重。不过这不是完全没有可能。”

1 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

2 junction   

n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站

参考例句：

• There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
• You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。

3 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

4 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

5 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

6 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

7 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。