Listen this way听力教程第三册-3

（单词翻译）

Unit 3   El Nino? La Nina?

Part Ⅰ  Getting ready
Wherever you go, one of the things that you care most about is the weather. Do you need an umbrella or should you wear an overcoat? You may, of course, read the newspaper for the information. Most of the time, however, you get a weather report by listening to the radio or just dialing a phone number.

A  The following words and phrase will appear in this unit. Listen carefully and study the definitions.
   1. alleviate¹: make something less
   2. almanac: a publication containing statistical² information, meteorological data, and other useful facts
   3. devastate³: destroy completely
   4. cyclic: happening in cycles
   5. oceanographer: a person who studies the body of science dealing⁴ with the ocean
   6. depletive: reducing the amount of something that is available to be used
   7. ripple⁵: little waves on the surface of water caused by the wind or an object dropping into the water
   8. the coastguard: a body of men employed to keep watch on coasts
   9. lens: a curved piece of transparent⁶ substance, usually glass, used in optical devices
   10. microfilm: a film bearing a miniature photographic copy of printed or graphic⁷ matter

B  Listen to the weather report. Fill in the information.
   Places    Weather conditions  Temperatures
   Berlin    Mostly cloudy       ____________
   Brussels    __________________  __________________ 
   London    Mostly cloudy       __________________
   Paris    __________________  __________________ 
   Rome            Periods of clouds   __________________
                   and sunshine        __________________ 
   Vienna    Cloudy              __________________ 
   Athens    __________________  __________________ 
   Belgrade    Mostly cloudy       __________________ 
   Istanbul    Partly sunny        __________________
   Kiev     __________________  __________________
   Moscow    Snowy        __________________
   Prague    Snow flurries       __________________ 
   Washington D.C. Expecting snow      __________________ 

C  Now try this: listen to a more authentic⁸ version of the report.
As we are going towards the end of the 1990s, people are looking forward to the new century. Will there be any changes? Maybe you are interested in some of the issues that we'll be facing.

D  Listen to the following news report. Complete the chart. Trend to be watched next century

   When we listen to the weather forecasts, we often come across some terms related with the weather. For example, what is a cyclone⁹? What is a hurricane? Are they the same? Here is the explanation.

E  Listen to the explanation. Complete the information in the chart.
   Name         Place                    Time
   Ocean storm Northern part of world;  Late summer or autumn
                near equator                     
   Cyclone _______________________        -         
             ___ in the Indian Ocean 
   ___________  Western Pacific Ocean or       -     
                China Sea 
   Hurricane ___________ and Atlantic       - 
         Ocean 

Part Ⅱ El Nino
El Nino was originally recognized by fishermen off the coast of South America as the appearance of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean occurring near the beginmng of the year. El Nino means The Little Boy or Christ Child in Spanish. This name was used for the tendency of the phenomenon to arrive around Christmas.

A  Listen to the report. Complete the outline of El Nino.
   Outline
  Ⅰ. General information on El Nino
      A. nature
         a cyclic ______________ that affects the ___________
      B. frequency and length
         1. normally showing up about __________, in four year cycles
         2. lasting¹⁰ about ______________
      C. evidence
         1. bringing ______________ to parts of the earth
         2. some regions becoming ______________; others _____________
      D. time
         beginning with ______________ pulling cold water away from south America's west coast to around the equator

   Ⅱ. Impacts around the world
       A. impacts on the weather
          1. ____________________________
          2. flooding
       B. hard on fishing industry

   Ⅲ. Difficulty of prediction

B  Now try this: listen to a more authentic version of the report. Write a summary about El Nino. Use the outline you have completed as cues.

   El Nino is __________ that affects the global climate. It normally shows up ______________________________ and it lasts about 12 to 18 months. As it brings warmer weather to parts of the earth, some regions become ________ than usual while others __________.
   El Nino usually begins with the decline of winds pulling ____________________ to around the equator. This allows warm water in the western Pacific Ocean to ___________. At the same time, the clouds and the rain over the warm water ___________.  
   El Nino's can change __________________. It can cause ___________ as well as ___________. They are also hard ____________, causing fish stocks ___________.
   However, El Nino is hard to predict because ________________________ depends on how winds affect the "Calvin wave" that has moved across the Pacific.

Part Ⅲ  Lick Observatory¹¹
An observatory is a place or building, especially a domed¹² structure, equipped and used for making observations of astronomical¹³ or other natural phenomena¹⁴. Have you ever been to such kind of place? In California, U.S.A., there is a very famous one.
 
A  Listen to the material. Guess the meaning of following words and phrases. Match column A with column B.
   Column A
   1. eucalypus
   2. seismographic station
   3. dome  
   4. in motion
   5. real estate
   6. celestial¹⁵
   7. nostalgia  
   8. trade-off  
 
   Column B
   ___ the exchange of one thing for another
   ___ an affectionate and slightly sad feeling that one has for the past
   ___ connecting with heaven
   ___ proper in the from of building and land
   ___ a round roof
   ___ happening already
   ___ a place where instruments are used to measure and record the vibration¹⁶ of earthquakes
   ___  a kind of evergreen¹⁷ tree

B  Listen again. Supply the missing inform telescope in it.
 Lick Observatory  
   Location       ______________________ from the outskirts¹⁸
    of San Jose, California at the _______ of
    Mount Hamilton 
   Origin of     Getting its name from ___________________
   the name      
   Number of      ________________________________________  
   telescopes held   

       The largest telescope held by Lick Observatory
   Size                        _____________ reflecting lens; the
                               ____ largest telescope of its kind
   Time when it was completed  __________________________________
   Present function            Used for some______; mostly used as
                               _________ for teachers and visitors

C  Now try this: listen to a more authentic version of the material. Complete the chart by comparing the 19th century telescope with the modern ones. Then answer the questions.
 
                        19th century telescope    Telescopes connected
                                                   to electronic
                                                   imaging devices
   Way of observation Direct viewing with _____  Viewing celestial 
                        ____________; sitting out  objects on_______  
          _________________________  _________________
   Gains and losses     _____________ ; going out  Nice; __________; 
                 every now and then; keep-  divorced ________
                 ing track of ____________  from ____________ 
  
   Questions:
   1. Why does the speaker say that those telescopes are overlooking the world of computer age manufacturing?
      _________________________________________
      _________________________________________

   2. Why is Lick Observatory a memorial to the businessman from whom it got its name?
      _________________________________________
      _________________________________________

   3. What does Mr. Stone mean by saying "It's a trade-off?
      _________________________________________
      _________________________________________

Part Ⅳ  More about the topic: The National Climatic Data Center
Climate is a global phenomenon. To support man's insatiable quest to understand the entire climate system, data on a global scale must be archived, analyzed¹⁹, and made available. The National Climatic Data Center, or NCDC, is the world's largest active archive of weather data.

A  Complete the outline according to what you hear about the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in U.S.A.
   Outline
   Ⅰ. General information about NCDC
       A. establishment
          formed in ________, as a record center for America's Department of Commerce
       B. ____________________
          in the southern city of Asheville, North Carolina
       C. equipment used to learn about the weather
          ________________________________________

   Ⅱ. Functions
       A. collecting weather records gathered by a number of weather observers and U.S. government agencies
       B. _________________________________________
       C. assisting in production of written records, weather maps and pictures
       D. producing _______________________________
       E. receiving

B  Now listen again. Focus on some specific information and answer the questions.
   1. Could you mention some of the weather observers and government agencies that provide weather records for the NCDC?
      _________________________________________
      _________________________________________
 
   2. Why do we say that some of the information held by the NCDC is very old?
      _________________________________________
      _________________________________________

   3. How can you get the written records, weather maps and pictures apart from asking the NCDC?
      _________________________________________
      _________________________________________
   4. Could you mention some of the publications produced by the NCDC?
      _________________________________________
      _________________________________________

   5. How many requests did the NCDC receive last year?
      _________________________________________
      _________________________________________

Part Ⅴ  Do you know ...?
La Nina is sometimes called El Viejo, anti-El Nino, or simply "a cold event" or "a cold episode". Global climate La Nina impacts tend to be opposite those of El Nino impacts.
 
Listen to the science report. Fill in the missing information.
         La Nina  
   Meaning of the language    ___________________________
   Time when it develops      Winds near ________________
                              ______ strengthen; cold air
                              forms near _____________ of
                              Peru & Ecuador
   Time when it is strongest  During ___________ in the
                              Northern part of the world  
   Duration                   Lasting ____________ years
   Evidence                   Low water temperatures in__
                              ___________________________
   Impacts                    As severe as _____________:
                              making some places ________
                              than normal and others ____
 
Part Ⅵ  Reminder of key points in this unit
    Verb & Verb Phrase  Noun & Noun Phrase  Other
   Part Ⅰ take its grip       snow flurry    tremendous
    alleviate        almanac            potentially
                 climate zone 
                 cyclone 
                 hurricane 
   Part Ⅱ devastate           oceanographer       cyclic 
                               radar               in a row
                               ripple              unseasonably
                                                   depletive
   Part Ⅲ divorce from        observatory         in motion celestial
                               Silicon Valley      
                               eucalyptus tree
                               seismographic station
                               dome
                               real estate
                               lens
                               nostalgia
                               trade-off
   Part Ⅳ assist              data                 climatic
                               headquarters
                               coastguard
                               weather observer
                               observation
                               microfilm
                               observation station  atmospheric
   Part Ⅴ                     Peru
                               Ecuador