2005年NPR美国国家公共电台三月-commentary

A major winter storm is making its way up the east coast. Six to ten inches of snow is expected in the New York City area with 14 inches possible in parts of New Jersey¹ and Pennsylvania. Not to be outdone, the Midwest is shivering through the arrival of another low-pressure system, which is bringing low temperatures and snow to that part of the country. Sounds pretty bad, but residents of the East and Midwest won't get much sympathy from commentator² Laura Lorson.

The People of Minnesota or the upper peninsula or Maine all talk about their winter woes³. But I have to tell you they've got nothing on the central plains. True, I grew up in a place where my dad with mother awed⁴ its brutal⁵ under his breath when it got to be 40 degrees but seriously, we don't have a big ice fishing tradition, but that doesn't mean that you can't spit and have it freeze before it hits the ground out here. Our notable feature out here is the wind. It's constant. It's mindless.It's vicious. Kids who have trouble with their times tables nonetheless learn how to calculate wind chill readings in their heads. The wind feels vindictive⁶. And it's hard not to think of it as having evil, personal, angry intent. It's completely normal to hear perfectly⁷ rational people screaming:"Stop it" at the wind as they try to walk in the winter time. Native Kansans invariably have a whole set of gruesome horrifying⁸ stories about grandparents who got caught out in an unexpected blizzard⁹ and had to, I don't know, spend the night in a haystack, or eat gravel¹⁰ when they got stuck in a snow drift or something. For the life of me I can not figure out the pioneers who got out here, took a look around and decided¹¹ "Yup. this is the place." Blistering¹² nightmarishly hot summers; brutal, punishing winters ,one week of fall, one week of spring. "Yeah this is great. Sign me up."

We also have the added benefit of frequent ice storms. Laurance, Kansas is contrary to public perception ,a town of very steep hills. So you need to be comfortable with the sensation of ice skating if you want to get anywhere in the winter. This also means that we're prone¹³ to cancel school. When I was the local host of morning edition, long stretches of winter weather made me a total celebrity¹⁴ with everyone in town under the age of 16. The downside of this is that I actually had to get to the radio station in order to be the vioce of winter authority closing schools right and left. The upside is that I used to get fan mail from second graders. "You cancel school, you rock. Can you get me out of my English test on wendesday? ". I take the calls from the pragmatic ,laconic¹⁵ ultra-low tech schools superintendents¹⁶."No school for town in Narxi couldn't get them out of drive way. No school for prairie village can't see it in my deck " I missed being the one curled up in bed listening to the radio praying, praying. "Let my school be next. Let today be the day I can stay in out of the wind. Let today be a day for coco and soup and daytime television and reading in bed." The prayer of kids in every state, whether it's a traditional winter weather power house or just plain Kansas.

Laura Lorson is the local All Things Considered host, at Kansas public radio in Laurance, where the forecast low tonight is 15 with gusty¹⁷ winds out of the North.
 

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

3 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

4 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

6 vindictive   

adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的

参考例句：

• I have no vindictive feelings about it.我对此没有恶意。
• The vindictive little girl tore up her sister's papers.那个充满报复心的小女孩撕破了她姐姐的作业。

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

9 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

10 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 blistering   

adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡

参考例句：

• The runners set off at a blistering pace. 赛跑运动员如脱缰野马般起跑了。
• This failure is known as preferential wetting and is responsible for blistering. 这种故障称为优先吸湿，是产生气泡的原因。 来自辞典例句

13 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

14 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

15 laconic   

adj.简洁的；精练的

参考例句：

• He sent me a laconic private message.他给我一封简要的私人函件。
• This response was typical of the writer's laconic wit.这个回答反映了这位作家精练简明的特点。

16 superintendents   

警长( superintendent的名词复数 )； （大楼的）管理人； 监管人； （美国）警察局长

参考例句：

• Unlike their New York counterparts, Portland school superintendents welcomed McFarlane. 这一次，地点是在波特兰。
• But superintendents and principals have wide discretion. 但是，地方领导和校长有自由裁量权。

17 gusty   

adj.起大风的

参考例句：

• Weather forecasts predict more hot weather,gusty winds and lightning strikes.天气预报预测高温、大风和雷电天气将继续。
• Why was Candlestick Park so windy and gusty? 埃德尔斯蒂克公园里为什么会有那么多的强劲阵风？