VOA标准英语2009年-Almanac Predicts Colder Than Normal Winter

By Sarah Williams
08 October 2009

  
  
This winter in the United States will be colder than normal. That's what the classic American publication the Old Farmers's Almanac is predicting.

"We expect heavier than normal snow in the Intermountain region, which is in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, and just colder than normal temperatures throughout most of the U.S.," said Janice Stillman, the Almanac's editor. She claims the forecasts made by the Old Farmer's Almanac are 80 percent accurate. 

To make those predictions, the Almanac has traditionally used a secret formula based on sunspot activity developed in 1792 by its founder¹, Robert B. Thomas. Today, it also employs what it calls state-of-the-art technology and modern scientific calculations.

"But you have to remember that we predict temperature and precipitation as deviations² from the norm," said Stillman. "We're not going to tell you what the temperatures going to be, nor how much rain or snow is going to fall."

Some scientists claim the vagueness of the Almanac's predictions makes it difficult to determine their accuracy. So does the fact that the Almanac's predictions are prepared as much as 18 months in advance. 

In a concession³ such challenges, the Almanac stated in its bicentennial edition, "Neither we nor anyone else has as yet gained sufficient insight into the mysteries of the universe to predict weather with anything resembling total accuracy."

The Old Farmer's Almanac is the oldest, continuously published periodical in North America. Besides weather, it contains information as diverse as recipes, planting charts, astronomy and predictions. An on-line version of the Almanac was launched in 1996.

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 deviations   

背离，偏离( deviation的名词复数 )； 离经叛道的行为

参考例句：

• Local deviations depend strongly on the local geometry of the solid matrix. 局部偏离严格地依赖于固体矩阵的局部几何形状。
• They were a series of tactical day-to-day deviations from White House policy. 它们是一系列策略上一天天摆脱白宫政策的偏向。

3 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。