BBC随身英语:Raining cats and dogs 英国迎来又一轮雨天
With so many outdoor events and festivals taking place this summer you would think all the British want is a long spell of warm sunshine. But London's Olympic opening ceremony next month will see fake clouds hovering over the stadium providing a dampening just in case the real stuff fails to rain on the parade.
But despite our familiarity with precipitation our vocabulary to describe it is limited. The Inuit people allegedly have 50 words to describe snow because they see so much of it, although Geoff Pullman, a linguist from Edinburgh University says "…the idea is neither empirically true nor practically necessary… as humans we experience lots of variety in everyday life but we don't try to bring it under linguistic observation."
Given that, the British could be forgiven for having just a handful of words. However colloquial English gives meteorological terms a bit more colour. A few drops of rain is described as spitting and one of the most descriptive phrases for heavy rain is it's raining stair-rods. There's also chucking it down and bucketing down which conjures up a picture of some heavenly creature emptying buckets of water from above, drenching the miserable folk below. But the weather you might want to most avoid is when it's raining cats and dogs– a rather cruel way of describing torrential rain.
Quiz 测验 1. According to the article, what weather do British people complain most about?
The British complain most about the rain.
2. In terms of rainfall, what is June most likely to be?
Probably the wettest June on record.
3. What will hover above the Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony?
Fake rain clouds.
4. True, false or not given: The Inuit people have 50 words to describe rain.
False. The Inuit people allegedly have 50 words to describe snow.
5. What colloquial expression is used when there are just a few drops of rain?
It's spitting with rain.
Glossary 词汇表 climatic condition天气状况 splashing溅水的声音 drizzle小雨 spell (of weather)一段时间 precipitation雨水 meteorological气象的 (raining) stair-rods倾盆大雨 bucketing down大雨倾盆 drenching全身浸透 raining cats and dogs倾盆大雨
相关文章
- BBC随身英语(MP3+中英字幕) 第224期:咖啡种植业面临威胁
- BBC随身英语(MP3+中英字幕) 第223期:自主健身小贴士
- BBC随身英语(MP3+中英字幕) 第222期:应对并克服考试压力的方法
- BBC随身英语(MP3+中英字幕) 第221期:让蔬菜看起来更加美味诱人
- BBC随身英语(MP3+中英字幕) 第220期:威廉王子夫妇加拿大之旅
- BBC随身英语(MP3+中英字幕) 第219期:今天的地球
- BBC随身英语(MP3+中英字幕) 第218期:指尖陀螺
- BBC随身英语(MP3+中英字幕) 第217期:请注意
- BBC随身英语(MP3+中英字幕) 第216期:塑料带来的问题
- BBC随身英语(MP3+中英字幕) 第215期:最伟大的魔术师