NPR边听边练332：美国遭遇极端寒冷天气

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　　一、泛听建议：

　　1、完整听一遍，掌握大意。

　　2、继续听，特别注意关键信息。遇到相似的词，写下来。

　　A life threatening wind chill is gripping states in the northern and central US. It is -21 in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Tulsa,Oklahoma faces wind chills tonight of -10 to -20 degrees. Authorities in nearly half the country _1_ residents to take precautions.Chicago's Emergency Management Director Gary Schenkel is among them.

　　危及到生命的寒冷空气正在向美国中北部各州移动。北达科他州的格兰特福克斯地区目前温度为零下21度。今晚，俄克拉荷马州图尔萨将迎来冷空气，温度将下降至零下10度至零下20度左右。美国有一半地区的相关部门警告居民要采取预防措施。芝加哥应急管理署署长加里·申克尔便发出类似警告。

　　"These cold temperatures can cause frost-bite and hazardous¹ situation within minutes. The elderly, the very young and the _2_ can be especially affected² by extreme weather."

　　“这种低温可能在几分钟内便引起冻伤和危险情况。尤其老年人，儿童和残疾人更易受极端天气的影响。”

　　Some areas will see temperatures 30 to 50 degrees colder than average.

　　一些地区的温度将比平均温度低30至50度。

　　2014 _3_ off to a dry start in California which depends heavily on winter rain and snow fall to fill reservoirs that supply farms and cities. NPR's Craig Ziegler reports this is on top of last year which is one of California's driest on record.

　　2014年一开始，加州便面临干旱问题，加州在极大程度上依赖于冬雨和冬雪来注满水库，为农田和城市用水提供供应。据NPR新闻的克雷格·齐格勒报道，这是继去年之后继续存在的问题，去年几乎是加州有记录以来最干旱的一年。

　　The 2013 moisture totals are alarming in California. Los Angeles will normally get about 14 inches of rain, Oakland about 22 inches but both cities for instance _4_ less than 4 the entire year. State Drought Manager Bill Croyle says the situation in the Sierra，Nevada Mountains _5_.

　　2013年加州的湿度总量令人担忧。举例来说，洛杉矶的正常降雨量为14英寸，奥克兰为22英寸，但是这两个城市全年的降雨量均少于4英寸。加州干旱事务负责人比尔·克罗伊尔表示，内华达山脉的情况要更严重。

　　This is really historic dry year for California. In Northern Sierras is the driest since records began in 1905.

　　“这是加州有史以来最干旱的一年。谢拉山脉北部是1905年有记录以来最干旱的一年。”

　　Like the rest of the west, California cities and farms depend on melting snows in spring to fill reservoirs but snow pack levels across much of this year in Nevada are just 20% of normal. Craig Ziegler NPR News.

　　和西部其他地方一样，加州的城市和农田需要春季的融雪来注满水库提供水供应，但是内华达州全年的融雪量仅为正常的20%。NPR新闻，克雷格·齐格勒报道。

　　词汇解析：

　　1. on top of

　　另外；加之；除…之外（还）；

　　eg. On top of borrowing 50, he asked me to lend him my car.

　　他向我借了50英镑，此外还向我借汽车。

　　eg. An extra 700 jobs are being cut on top of the 2,000 that were lost last year.

　　除了去年被裁掉的 2，000 个职位，还有700个岗位在裁撤中。

　　2. on record

　　有记录的；有记载的；

　　eg. It's the shortest election campaign on record.

　　这是史上为期最短的一次竞选活动。

　　eg. The 1980s were the hottest decade on record.

　　20世纪80年代是有史以来最热的十年。

　　3. for instance

　　例如；譬如；

　　eg. There are a number of improvements; for instance, both mouse buttons can now be used.

　　在许多地方有了改进，例如，鼠标的左右键都可以使用了。

　　eg. Let your child make some of the small decisions concerning his daily routine. For instance, allow him to choose what clothes he wears at the weekend.

　　让孩子在日常生活中作一些小决定。比如，让他自己决定周末穿什么衣服。

　　参考答案：

　　1、are warning 2、disabled 3、is getting

　　4、received 5、is even worse

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