谈“绿色奥运”，聊天气话题

秋高气爽，正是一年好时节。Do you have lovely sunshine, blue sky and white clouds? 这次，我们就来聊聊和天气相关的话题。

Talk About the Weather 聊聊天气状况

People in Britain are always ready to talk about the weather. Weather is a safe and popular topic that everybody shares with others. Weather is also part of Britain's culture.

先让我们来看段Jenny和YueGuo之间谈论天气的对话。

YUEGUO:	Hi, Jenny! What terrible weather!
JENNY:	Yeah. We had quite a sharp frost this morning. Still, it could be worse!
YUEGUO:	It might clear up for a while around lunch time, they say.
JENNY:	Yes, the forecast said it should be quite bright during daylight hours.
YUEGUO:	Really? I thought we were in for thunder and lightning before dusk!
JENNY:	Let's keep our fingers crossed! Bye!
YUEGUO:	Bye!
Notes:
1 sharp frost 刺骨的严寒 2 clear up 放晴 3 be in for 肯定会遭受，经历 4 keep fingers crossed （食指与中指交叉）祈求好运

通过上面的对话，我们可以发现：adjectives (e.g. bright), nouns (e.g. frost) or verbs (e.g. clear up)，他们都是可以用来描述天气变化的词语。那么，你还能想到其他的词吗？

More words and expressions:

Noun	fog, humidity（湿润）, snowstorm, drought（干旱）, flood, sand storm, thunderstorm, hurricane（飓风）, tornado（龙卷风）, hail（冰雹）, breeze（微风）, gale（大风）, mist, gust （阵风）, drizzle（小雨）， shower, downpour（倾盆大雨）, sleet（冻雨）, snow, rain, sunshine …
Adjective	sunny, bright, cloudy, overcast（阴天）, windy, foggy（雾的）, snowy, humid, dry, wet, frosty（霜冻的）, stormy, cool, rainy, smoggy(烟雾弥漫的), awful, chilly, icy, fair…
Verb phrase	(cloud, storm) blow over（散去，过去）, hail, breeze, snow, rain, sleet, shower, storm …

Expressions to talk about the weather:

1. We had quite a sharp frost this morning.	1. 今天早上可真是严寒刺骨。
2. It might clear up for a while around lunchtime.	2. 午饭时可能会晴一阵子。
3. The forecast said it should be quite bright during daylight hours.	3. 天气预报说白天应该很晴朗。
4. I thought we were in for thunder and lightning before dusk.	4. 我想黄昏前可能有雷电。
5. What a lovely day!	5. 多好的天气啊！
6. It's going to get worse later.	6. 过会儿天气会更糟。
7. Those clouds will soon blow over.	7. 这些云很快就会消散。
8. It's going to be rainy later.	8. 过会儿要下雨。
9. The wind's coming from the northwest.	9. 将吹西北风。
10. We're in for a bad spell of weather.	10. 我们将要经历一段糟糕的天气。
11. What awful/terrible weather, isn't it!	11. 多糟的天气，不是吗？
12. I reckon it'll get worse before it gets better!	12. 我想在天气好转之前会变得更糟。

Weather Expressions 说说实用表达

Can you make a conversation with a friend, commenting on the weather? You can talk about what the weather is like, what was it like and what it will be like. To help you do it, we will tell you some pratical weather expressions.

1. What is the weather like out there?

外面的天气如何？

要问别人外面的天气如何，最简单的问法就是 "What's the weather like out there?" 或是我们可以用一个很简单的 it 来代表天气， "What's it like out there?" 也可以。还有要是你不喜欢用 What 来作问句，你也可以简单地说 "How is the weather out there?"。

但是如果我们想问别人未来的某一个时间会不会出太阳或是会不会下雨，例如想问人家星期一会下雨吗，我们就可以说 "Is it supposed to rain on Monday?"。这里用到了一个 be suppose to 的片语，这种讲法是老美最喜欢的。再比方说，如果我们假设明天有什么活动，我们常常会要求别人先看看明天会不会出太阳或下雨。这种情况老美会说 "Why don't you check and see if it's sunny tomorrow?" (你何不看看明天会不会出太阳呢?) 这里把 see if it's sunny 改成 see if it's going to rain 就变成了看看会不会下雨。

2. It's a beautiful day.

今天天气很好。

老美都是怎么形容好天气的呢? 通常他们会用 beautiful，nice 或是 lovely 来形容。其中我最常听到的就是"It's a beautiful/nice/lovely day." 反之如果是天气很糟下大雨呢，你可以用 "It's nasty." 来形容。

但是有时候也可以用反讽的讲法。有一次外头下着倾盆大雨，我和一个美国同学又正好没带伞，结果她居然说 "How lovely." (天气可真是好啊。) 。当时我还正经八百地问她是否天气很差可以用 lovely 来形容，后来我才知道原来她只不过是在讲反话。

3. It rained cats and dogs last night.

昨晚雨下得很大。

Rain cats and dogs 是一句非常受欢迎的俚，几乎每个在美国的外籍学生都懂得用 rain cats and dogs 来形容雨下得很大。当然如果你不想用俚语的讲法，你可以说 "It's raining really hard." (雨下得很大) 或是 "We're having a heavy rain." 同样也是雨下得很大。

那雨下得很大，我被淋成了“落汤鸡”这句话要怎么讲？落汤鸡在英文里只能用 "I am soaked." (我湿透了) 来形容，所以整句话就成为 "It's raining cats and dogs out there so I am soaked."。

4. We had a downpour.

我们刚遇到了一场倾盆大雨。

中文里常形容雨大得像是倒出来的一样，这在英文里也有同样对等的字眼喔！英文里用 downpour 形容下雨像是用倒的一样（pour 单独解就是倒水的意思），所以下雨像是用倒的我们可以说"We had a downpour." 。

另外有一个十分口语的讲法 "It's really coming down out there." 也是形容雨下得很大，像是倒出来的一样。

5. It's just sprinkling.

只是在下毛毛雨而已。

在英文里不管下毛毛雨或是毛毛雪我们都可以用 drizzle 和 sprinkle 这两个动词来表示。Drizzle 这个字就是气象术语里下毛毛雨的意思，而 sprinkle 虽然是撒的意思，但也常被用来形容毛毛雨，常听到的用法就是 "It's drizzling." 或是 "It's sprinkling." 。

另外还有一个说法叫 scattered rain，它指的是零零星星的降雨。例如 "We have to cancel the track and field contest because of the scattered rain." 因为零星的降雨所以我们必须取消田径赛。

6. You need to put on your sweater because it's freezing.

你必须穿上你的毛衣因为外面很冷。

有几个形容词可以用来形容天气冷。chilly 指的是天气有点“凉”，cold 指的是“冷”, 而 freezing 指的则是“冻”。除了 freezing 之外，室友还教我一个俚语 "It's colder than a witch's titty." 它也可以形容天气很冷，（还可以形容不友善 unfriendly ）。

不过严格说起来，只有摄氏零度以下才能说是 freezing。因为 freeze 是指液体凝结成固体，而 freezing point 则是指“冰点”。水的冰点是摄氏零度，所以照理说零度以下才能算是 freezing ！不过平常何时使用 freezing 则是看个人的感受而定，不需严格去界定。

Bonus：温度零度是用 zero degrees，而非 zero degree，大家要小心别犯错误哦。

7. It's burning up out there.

外面热得跟火炉似的。

美国东岸夏天的温度有时会超过华氏 100 度，（相当于摄氏 37.8 度），在这种高温下人体不能自然散热，简直就像是待在火炉中一样。

在英文里要形容天气像“火炉”一样，我们可以说 "It's burning up out there." 另外我们也可以说热得跟地狱一样 "It's hot as hell." 或这用俚语的讲法"It's hot as Hades." Hades 在这里也是指地狱 (hell) 的意思。

8. We can't play tennis today because It's too windy.

我们今天不能打网球因为风太大了。

老美通常用形容词 windy 来形容刮风。例如 "It's windy." 简单明了。如果是刮微风，我们还可以用 "It's breezy." 来形容。另外GRE中出现的gusty 意指刮强风的，但是平常几乎听不到老美用这个字，顶多就是听气象预报时偶尔会听到一两次而己。所以我们还是乖乖地用 windy 和 breezy 比较实在。

还有如果没有风天气很闷热要用哪个形容词呢？老美用的是 muggy 这个词。还有一个 GRE 词汇 sultry 同样也指闷热的 (也可当风骚解)，但口语上好像很少听老美这么说。

9. We had 3 inches of snow and sleet last week.

上个星期下了三英寸的雪和冰雹。

降水可分为几种：rain, snow, sleet 和 freezing rain。我想 rain 和 snow 大家都知道，不必多说。而 sleet指的则是冰雹，是没有结晶的冰粒，它不像雪花有着不可思议的六角形结晶。还有 freezing rain 指的是冻雨。它形成的原因是雨水的温度早就低于零度，却因为缺少结晶的条件所以没有凝结成冰晶，但是一降到地面就立刻冻住了，这就是 freezing rain。这几种降水在美国的冬天都常见。

另外老美常讲"It's icy."，指的则是地面结冰，但这种情况不一定有降水。有时候明明昨晚一点雨都没下，但一早起来大地却是白白的一片，地面上和枝头上的露水都结冰了。美则美矣，但要提醒各位在 icy road 的状况下开车上路是很危险的一件事，因为马路上有肉眼无法分辨的 black ice，你的车子一开过去就会打滑，很容易肇事。

10. The devil's beating his wife.

魔鬼正在打他的老婆。（正在下太阳雨）

当你偶然间看到外头一边出太阳另一边却在下雨时，你是否会感觉到大自然的神奇呢？对中国人而言，晴天下雨算是一种好兆头，但对老美而言，他们觉得这是一种异象，并不算是好事。所以当他们小时候好奇地问父母为什么会一边下雨一边又出太阳的时候，他们的爸妈就会告诉他们 "The devil's beating his wife." (魔鬼正在打他的老婆.)。当然啦，这样的用法不一定十分普遍，但是上次听室友提到还是觉得蛮有意思的，于是就拿来与大家分享。

Climate Change 谈谈气候变化

Scientists have shown that the Earth's average temperature has risen slightly in the last few decades. We know that the climate really changes because of global warming. And this can have a huge effect on life on the Earth.

Scientists believe the Earth's average temperature has risen slightly in the last few decades. 近几十年地球的平均气温正在缓慢提升。

For about the last 10,000 years, the average temperature of the Earth has been about 15°Celsius（摄氏度） (59°Farenheit华氏度). During this time, the Earth's average temperature has not changed by more than 1°C (1.8°F). Scientists can now document（证明） that the average temperature of the Earth has risen about 0.5°C (0.8°F) since 1850. Additionally, the 1990's was the warmest decade ever recorded. Scientists predict that the Earth will warm 1.0° to 3.5°C (1.8° to 6.3°F) in the next 100 years. This appears to be the most rapid and greatest warming of Earth's temperature than has ever occurred. 一万年前，地球的平均气温是15摄氏度。到了1850年，平均气温只上涨了0.5摄氏度。然而，科学家预测在未来的百年内，平均气温就要上涨1-3.5摄氏度。变暖速度之快之巨在之前绝无仅有。

What is causing Global Warming? 什么因素导致了全球变暖？

Many factors contribute to the Earth's temperature, including the shape of the Earth's revolution around the Sun, the Earth's tilt（倾斜） on its axis（轴）, the way the Earth wobbles（摇晃，摆动） on its axis, solar activity such as sun spots（太阳黑子）, and the chemical composition of Earth's atmosphere. Scientists believe that human activities are affecting the chemical composition of Earth's atmosphere. 导致全球变暖的原因很多，包括地球公转自转的角度变化，太阳黑子的频繁活动，大气的物质构成发生变化等等。而后者的变化正是人为因素造成的。

How are human activities affecting Global Warming? 为什么人类的活动会引发全球变暖？

Earth's atmosphere is 78 percent nitrogen（氮） and 21 percent oxygen. Less than one percent of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrogen oxides, and ozone, which are known as greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases act like the panes（长方块） of glass in a greenhouse. They keep some of Earth's heat from escaping to space. Until about 100 years ago, the concentration （密度，浓度）of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere was stable. Scientists believe that human activities are changing the concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere. Specifically, they are concerned about how much carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxides are being added to the atmosphere as a result of human activities. Just like adding an extra blanket to your bed will keep you warmer, more greenhouse gases will keep the planet warmer. 大气主要由78%的氮气和21%的氧气构成，剩下的1%被称作温室气体，由二氧化碳、水蒸汽、甲烷、臭氧等组成。温室气体阻止地球热量的散失。100年前，温室气体在大气中的含量还很稳定，但如今，人类的活动排放出大量的二氧化碳、甲烷、氧化亚氮，致使温室气体在大气中的浓度提升。过多的温室气体就像睡觉添加的被子一样，会让人们觉得更暖和，会导致全球气候变暖。

Expressions to talk about climate change:

1. It's all these greenhouse gases causing the problem.	1.是温室气体带来的问题。
2. Carbon dioxide comes mainly from the burning of fossil fuels.	2.二氧化碳主要是矿物燃料燃烧所产生的。
3. These gases build up in the earth's atmosphere, and trap the heat from the sun.	3.这些气体聚集在地球的大气层中，使得太阳的热量无法散发出去。
4. Average world temperatures could rise by anything up to 4 degrees centigrade.	4.世界平均温度可能会上升摄氏4度。
5. The reports of floods and droughts we've been seeing in the news could be caused by global warming.	5.我们在新闻中看到的洪灾和干旱可能是全球变暖造成的。
6. We can start trying to reduce emissions and look for alternative sources of energy.	6.我们可以试着减少排放物，寻找替代能源。
7. That can have a huge effect on local climates and ecosystems round the world.	7.这对区域气候和全球生态系统有很大的影响。
8. What happens is that the surface temperature of the central/eastern Pacific changes, and this alters wind and rainfall patterns.	8.（厄尔尼诺现象）是这样：太平洋中部或西部表面气温的变化改变了风向和降雨。
9. Pressure changes cause wind directions to change, with the result that the high level of warm water tips back to the east, like a sloping bath.	9.气压的变化使风向发生变化，结果是大量的热水向东回流，就向一个倾斜的浴室。
10. Some areas of the world experienced unusually dry conditions and excessive dryness led to extensive forest fire.	10.世界一些地区经历了罕见的干旱，过度的干旱导致了大面积的森林火灾。

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