精美英文欣赏:天气预报

Weather Forecasting

天气预报

It is the material for the conversation of board chairman and bored cleaning woman,of young and old, of the bright, the dull, the rich and the poor.

天气是董事会主席和无聊的清洁女佣之间闲聊的话题，也是年轻人和老人，聪明人和笨蛋，穷人和富人的谈资。

As if this basic coin of conversation needed to be gilded¹,

这个基本的聊天话题仿佛需要点亮色，

the average American constantly reads about the weather in his newspapers and magazines,listens to regular forecasts of it on the radio and watches while some TV prophet milks it for cuteness on the evening news.

于是普通美国人一直在报刊上阅读有关天气的消息，用收音机收听定期的天气预报，或在电视晚间新闻观看天气预报，而一些天气预报员利用这个节目买弄聪明伶俐。

Since the weather is to man what the waters are to fish,his preoccupation with it serves a unique purpose,constituting a social phenomenon all its own.

由于天气对人来说就想水对鱼儿一样重要，人们对天气的痴迷起到了独特的影响，造就了一种独有的社会现象。

Far from arising merely to pass the time or bridge a silence,"weathertalk," as it might be called, is a sort of code by which people confirm and salute² the sense of community they discover in the face of the weather's implacable influence.

所谓的“谈论天气”，远不只是为消磨时间或打破沉默而开始的话题，而是一种代码，通过这个代码人们确认并迎接社区归属感，而人们在面临天气难以撼动的影响时发现了这种归属感。

Inspired by exceptional weather,otherwise immutable³ strangers suddenly find themselves in communion.

受反常天气的刺激，在其他情况下毫不相干的陌路人，也会突然感到彼此心灵交汇。

As victims, people hate to cancel a picnic on account of rain,and yet they often cheer when the weather brings human activity to an abrupt⁴ stop.

作为天气的受害者，人们讨厌因为下雨而取消一次野餐活动，然而，他们还是常常会在天气使日常活动突然停止时欢呼雀跃。

Most feel that the weather indeed affects their moods.

大多数人觉得，天气的确会影响心情。

If man sees the weather differently according to his circumstance,healthy fear works at the hub of his obsession⁵ with it.

如果人们根据他们心情的变化而以不同的方式看待天气，健康的恐惧直接引起了他对天气的痴迷。

Through human history,weather has altered the march of events and caused some mighty⁶ cataclysms⁷.

纵观人类历史，天气改变了历史的进程，并导致了一些历史剧变。

Every year brings fresh reminders⁸ of the weather's power over human life and events in the form of horrifying⁹ tornadoes,hurricanes and floods.

每一年，各种可怕的龙卷风，飓风和洪水都在时刻提醒人们，天气对人类的生活和活动具有巨大的影响力。

No wonder, then,that man's great dream has been some day to control the weather.

因此，控制天气在未来成了人类最大的梦想也就不足为奇了。

With computers on tap and electronic eyes in the sky,modern man has thus come far in dealing¹⁰ with the weather,alternately his enemy and benefactor¹¹,

现代人身边有电脑，天上有电子眼，在应对天气方面已取得了长足的进步—天气一会儿是人类的敌人，一会儿是恩人；

yet man's difficulty today is not too far removed from that of his remote ancestors.

但人类目前面临的困难与遥远的祖先相比却没有少到哪里去。

For all the advances of scientific forecasting,in spite of the thousands of daily bulletins and advisories¹² that get flashed about,the weather is still ultimately unstable¹³ and unpredictable.

尽管人类在科学预报方面取得了进步，每天有数以千计滚动播出的天气状况报告，但天气终究还是变幻无常，难以预测。

Man's dream of controlling it is still just that-a dream.

人类控制天气的梦想仍然只是—一个梦想。

The very idea of control, in fact,raises enormous and troublesome questions.

而事实上，控制天气这个想法本身就提出了十分棘手的问题。

The vision of scheduled weather also raises ambiguous feelings among the world's billions of weather fans and poses at least one irresistible¹⁴ question:

全世界几十亿天气迷对按日程排定天气的预想拿捏不定，同时这一设想至少提出了一个无法回避的问题:

If weather were as predictable as holidays and eclipses,what in the world would everyone talk about?

如果天气像节日假期和日蚀，月蚀一样可以预知，那么我们还能聊点什么呢？

1 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

2 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

3 immutable   

adj.不可改变的，永恒的

参考例句：

• Nothing in the world is immutable.世界没有一成不变的东西。
• They free our minds from considering our world as fixed and immutable.它们改变着人们将世界看作是永恒不变的观点。

4 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

5 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

6 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

7 cataclysms   

n.（突然降临的）大灾难( cataclysm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

8 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

9 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。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 benefactor   

n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人

参考例句：

• The chieftain of that country is disguised as a benefactor this time. 那个国家的首领这一次伪装出一副施恩者的姿态。
• The first thing I did, was to recompense my original benefactor, my good old captain. 我所做的第一件事, 就是报答我那最初的恩人, 那位好心的老船长。

12 advisories   

n.（有关进展、动向、建议等的）报告( advisory的名词复数 )；公告；通告；通报

参考例句：

• Compliance with Practice Advisories is optional. 是否遵守实务公告由审计师自行选择决定。 来自互联网
• Hardened-PHP: not as such a PHP security information website, but it does have security advisories. 增强PHP:不仅仅是一个PHP安全新的网站，它还提供安全建议。 来自互联网

13 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

14 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。