英语听力：自然百科 澳洲沙尘暴

 Australia's worst dust storm in 70 years blanketed the countrys east coast Wednesday in a cloud of red outback grit¹. The reddish pall² swept into the cities of Sydney and Brisbane overnight, bringing an eerie³ orange dawn to Sydney.

 

The color was amazing, I've never seen it. I'm 72-years-old and I've never seen that in my life before. It's the first time ever.

 

Dust from the Lake Eyre basin in Queensland parched⁴ even further by the worst drought on record covered dozens of towns and cities as strong winds snatched up tons of sediment⁵, threw it high into the sky and carried it hundreds of miles. Flights departing the Sydney airport were delayed and inbound flights were diverted. Experts at the New South Wales Department of Climate Change and Weather said particle concentration in Sydney's air rose to the highest on record. Some joggers and people with asthma⁶ were suffering breathing problems.

 

It's been unbelievable. From nearly the crack of dawn, we've had joggers come in, fit young men and women who have just had real trouble breathing.

 

People with respiratory conditions were advised to be cautious. The sky over the Queensland state capital of Brisbane was clogged⁷ with dust into the afternoon. Drivers switched on their headlights and police warned them to slow down as dust darkened the skies.

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 pall   

v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕

参考例句：

• Already the allure of meals in restaurants had begun to pall.饭店里的饭菜已经不像以前那样诱人。
• I find his books begin to pall on me after a while.我发觉他的书读过一阵子就开始对我失去吸引力。

3 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

4 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

5 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

6 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

7 clogged   

（使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞

参考例句：

• The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
• The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。