(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
The U.S. East Coast is preparing for a major snow storm that weather experts are calling "historic" even before any snow falls.
The storm could produce blizzard conditions in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and New York City. At least 15 states expect heavy snow until Sunday.
Weather officials expect between 30 and 90 centimeters of snow. Officials expect strong winds, ice and coastal flooding during the storm.
Some cities and states, including Washington and Maryland, have declared states of emergency. Government leaders are asking the millions in the storm's path to be "better safe than sorry."
"Be careful, stay home on Saturday unless you have to travel somewhere," said Anthony Santino, a city official for Hempstead, N.Y.
Residents of the nation's capital experienced winter weather earlier this week. Washington had barely 5 centimeters of snow Wednesday. But many drivers were stranded because of a thin layer of ice on the roads. Some people abandoned their vehicles in the middle and on the side of the road.
Leading up to the weekend storm, supplies are difficult to find at hardware stores and grocery stores. Supplies of bottled water, wood for fires and snow shovels are limited.
"The fastest moving thing has been snow shovels. We are down to the last few of them," said Derek Staton, who works at a hardware store in Virginia.
Schools in the Washington area closed Friday in preparation for the storm. The federal government only required its employees to work for half the day on Friday.
The capitol's public transportation system will close Friday evening and plans to stay closed through Monday morning.
I'm Pete Musto.
词汇解释
1.blizzard n. 暴风雪,大风雪;大打击 vi. 下暴风雪
A blizzard was blasting great drifts of snow across the lake.
暴风雪夹着大团的积雪吹过湖面 。
2.strand n. 线;串;海滨 vt. 使搁浅;使陷于困境;弄断;使落后 vi. 搁浅
The receding tide stranded the whale.
退潮把鲸鱼搁浅在海滩上 。
3.shovel n. 铁铲;一铲的量;铲车 vt. 铲除;用铲挖;把…胡乱塞入 vi. 铲
The child packed the sand down with his shovel.
小孩用铲子将泥沙压紧 。
4.hardware n. 计算机硬件;五金器具
The company deals in both hardware and software.
这家公司既经营硬件,又经营软件 。
内容解析
1.Government leaders are asking the millions in the storm's path to be "better safe than sorry."
Better safe than sorry 小心不出大错;宁可事先谨慎有余,不要事后追悔莫及
Don't be afraid to have this checked by a doctor— better safe than sorry!
不要害怕找医生检查一下——宁求稳妥以免后悔!
“ You could easily have overtaken the truck just now. ”“ better safe than sorry,” the driver replied.
“你本来一下子就可以超过那辆卡车的 。”“宁求稳妥,以免遗憾 。”司机答道 。
2."The fastest moving thing has been snow shovels. We are down to the last few of them," said Derek Staton, who works at a hardware store in Virginia.
be down to 只剩下(少许钱财、货物等);降低至
The unemployed worker was down to his last penny when at last he found a job.
那名失业工人终于找到工作时,几乎一文不名了 。
Inflation will be down to three percent.
通货膨胀率将降到3% 。
参考译文
美国东海岸在为一场巨大的暴风雪做准备,专家称其规模将是历史罕见
。这场风暴能给华盛顿特区、巴蒂摩尔和纽约市带来暴风雪,至少15个州预测周日会下大雪
。天气官员预测降雪量将为30到90厘米,官方预测暴风期间会出现强风,冰雪和沿海洪灾
。华盛顿和马里兰州等城市和州已宣布紧急状态,政府官员请求风暴经行地区的居民“保持安全总,这总比出现遗憾好”
。“要小心,周六尽量呆在家里,除非你必须外出旅行
。”纽约亨普斯特德市官员桑提诺说 。本周早些时候首都居民刚经历了冬日天气,周日华盛顿降了大约5厘米厚的雪
。但很多驾车者仍被困其中,因为路面上有一层薄冰 。有的人将车辆丢在路中间和边上 。周末的暴风雪即将来临之际,五金店和杂货店的商品快要售罄了,瓶装水、生火用的木头和雪铲都快卖完了
。“卖的最快的是雪铲,现在就剩下几把了
。”在维吉尼亚一个五金店工作的德里克·斯塔顿说 。为迎接暴风雪,华盛顿地区的学校已经关闭,联邦政府只要求雇员周五工作半日,首都的公交系统周五晚上将关闭,计划到周日上午才重新恢复运营
。我是皮特·马思妥
。