voa标准英语2008-2008 10th Warmest On Record

The World Meteorological Organization said 2008 was the 10th warmest year on record. Its year-end report found 2008 was marked by the second-lowest level of Arctic ice cover. It said all of the 10 warmest years have occurred in the past 12 years. So, it noted¹, the trend for warming is going on.
　

A massive iceberg2 that stretches 150 kms across McMurdo Sound after it broke off Ross Ice Shelf in Antartica, (2001 file photo)

The WMO report said there was unusually warm weather in many parts of Europe, and Scandinavian countries enjoyed the warmest winter season on record. It said the Arctic Sea ice dropped to its second-lowest level during the melt season since satellite measurements began in 1979.

It said nearly one-quarter of the massive ancient ice shelves on Ellesmere Island disappeared, underscoring the rapidity of changes taking place in the Arctic. It said the melt strongly reinforces the 30-year downward trend in Arctic sea ice extent.
　

Michel Jarraud, Secretary General of WMO answers questions about the climate in 2008 in Geneva, 16 Dec 2008

WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said climate extremes, including devastating³ floods, severe and persistent⁴ droughts, snowstorms, heat waves and cold waves, were recorded in many parts of the world.

"If I have to identify one extreme event in 2008, I think we should highlight the Cyclone⁵ Nargis, which hit Myanmar, killing⁶ nearly 80,000 people ... causing also a big humanitarian⁷ challenge. The 2008 hurricane season was also quite unusual and it caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and in Central America and USA," said Jarraud.

For the first time on record, Jarraud said six consecutive⁸ tropical cyclones⁹ made landfall in USA. Three major cyclones hit Cuba, and Haiti was hit by cyclone after cyclone, killing more than 500 people.

The report describes the monsoon¹⁰ season in South Asia as very strong, killing more than 2,000 people and rendering¹¹ more than 10 million homeless. It said long-term drought persisted in southeastern Australia, with Victoria having its 9th driest year on record.

But WMO Data Management Application Division chief Omar Baddour said sub-Saharan Africa did not experience drought this year.

"What we are noticing here for the second year, sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing severe flooding. And, it was really unusual to not report large-scale drought in sub-Saharan Africa this year. So, this has two meanings. One is it is good information from agricultural perspective. But, it caused also humanitarian consequences," he said.

The report said sub-Saharan Africa, including West and East Africa, was affected¹² by heavy rains, which caused the worst-ever recorded flooding in Zimbabwe and affected more than 300,000 people in West Africa during the monsoon season.

1 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

2 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

5 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• 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。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

9 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句

10 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

11 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。