万花筒 2010-03-24&03-25 沙尘暴肆虐中国

A massive sandstorm has blanketed in China with a layer of sand and grit¹. We see these storms here every year around spring time, but this one is particularly bad. Residents are saying this is the worst they've seen in four or five years. It's clouded the skies with a dusty brown color. and on the ground you can see a layer of dust accumulating, and also on the cars as well. Now what we are seeing is people wearing face masks,wearing bandannas² to protect themselves. And when you breathe it in, you can really feel a bit of grit in your mouth and in your throat.

Now part of the reason that this is happening is because of desertification as well as a severe drought in northern China. Strong winds have whipped up sands in the Gobi desert and have sent them south. Now weather forecasters are saying the sandstorm has now reached Hong Kong and Taiwan,but as far as we can tell it really hasn't prevented most people from going about their businesses as usual at least here in Beijing. the streets are buzzing as they always are, but residents are being advised to stay indoors if they can.

Emily Chang,CNN Beijing.

1 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

2 bandannas   

n.印花大手帕( bandanna的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Long hair, overalls, bandannas, a Jesus beard on Dad. 长发，工作裤，大手帕，还有父亲的耶稣式胡子。 来自互联网
• They had standard-issue bandannas over their faces. 脸上蒙普通的大花巾。 来自互联网