VOA常速英语:Most of US to End 2017, Begin 2018 in Freezing Weather

The Waterford crystal ball is ready to ring in the New Year in New York’s Times Square but those who want to attend the 110-year-old tradition and the open air concert featuring famous stars will have to bundle up for the freezing temperatures.
沃特福德水晶球已准备好新年时在纽约时代广场上点亮了，但想要加入这个110年历史的传统的人和露天广场上参加音乐会的明星们可注意千万裹严实了。

20 central and northeastern states have already been hit by frigid cold weather and snow.Erie, Pennsylvania is covered in one and a half meters of snow and the flurries are still coming down. A lot of snow, just keeps comin’.
中部和东北部的20个州都已身陷严寒，宾夕法尼亚州的伊利已经被深约1.5 米的雪覆盖了，而雪花还在一阵阵的飘落。雪够大了，还下呢。

Low temperatures complicate the work of road cleaning crews and they slow down holiday travel.I could only do about 20 miles an hour.
低温扰乱了清扫人员的工作，出行的人们也放慢了假日旅行的速度。我一小时只能跑20英里。

Emergency services and shelters are sending out vehicles to collect homeless people and others who may be stranded in the cold.We know in 15 to 30 minute period that many of our guests could freeze to death.
急救服务中心和庇护所发出车辆，搜救无家可归的人和其他可能被困群众。在15到30分钟的时间里，我们好多客人可能会被冻死。

Some people brave the cold and look for fun things to do outdoors like ice-skating.The others say that bad weather just bad clothes, so we’re dressed for it.
有些人则不惧严寒，玩起了户外运动，比如滑冰。他们说，天不好就穿不好，所以我们今天特意打扮了才出来的。

For many others, the extreme could mean a change of plans.The girls wanted to go ice skating and we tried and it’s really cold.I don’t know, probably be inside on those days, a lot of movie-days.
对其他好多人来说，极端天气可以意味着更改计划。女生们都想出来滑冰，我们试了一下，不行，太冷了。我也不知道，大概回屋待着吧，又能看电影了。

Temperatures on New Year’s Eve are expected to be close to 10 degrees below normal in the Midwest and from northeastern states all the way south to the Carolinas.This includes large cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, New York, Washington and Atlanta.The frigid cold is expected to continue in the first week of 2018.Southern coastal states may experience some storms as the cold air collides with warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico.
中西部和东北部的州，一路从南到两个卡罗莱纳州，这些地方的除夕夜气温将不同往常，将近10度以下。其中就包括的大城市有芝加哥、圣路易斯、纽约、华盛顿和亚特兰大。天气预计将在2018年的第一周持续寒冷。南部沿海各州可能会经历暴风雪，为冷空气与墨西哥湾的暖湿气流相碰撞造成。