英语口语畅谈世界文化之英国85:The Weather伦敦天气mp3

英语口语畅谈世界文化

之英国

85 The Weather 伦敦天气

C:Chinese student    F: Foreigner
C：中国学生              F：外国人

C: I have heard that in Britain it often rains a lot. Sometimes I have heard the expression" raining cats and dogs" when it's raining very heavily.   Is that right?
C:听说英国经常下雨。我还听过raining cats and do黟这样的说法，指倾盆大雨。是这样吗？

F: Yes, it does rain quite a bit in Britain and we sometimes do say it's raining cats and dogs when it's raining very heavijy. But, we often just have showers, as in a small amount of rain, and then we say "It's drizzling. "
F:是的，英国经常下雨。下大雨对我们有时的确会用raining cats and dog这样的说法。但是，我们一般下的只是小雨，雨量很少，这时我们就说It's drizzling.。

C: Is it true chat English people always carry umbrellas around with them!
C:英国人足不是总随身带着雨伞啊？

F: Only when it's raining. Actually that is one of the big diffrences between our two cultures.
F：只在下雨的时候带。实际上这是我们两种文化间一个很大的区别。

C: Oh, why is that?
C:哦，怎么回事？

F: Well, when the sun is shining we like to wear as few clothes as possible to get the maximun benefit from the sun bur you use umbrellas ro protcct yourself fiom the sun's rays.
F：是这样，阳光普照时我们都尽量少穿衣服多晒晒太阳，但你们却用伞来遮挡阳光。

C: Yes, that's true. We think a pale skin is more beautiful.
C:的确如此。我们认为皮肤白一点更漂亮。

F: But we think a tan makes us look more healthy.
F：但我们却认为皮肤晒黑了看上去更健康。

C: Is it often sunny in England?
C:英国晴天多吗？

F: Not as much as we would like! It certainly does not get as hot as it does here in Beijing and the weatber is not dry like here.  I know we complain about the weather a lot but really I think we get a good mixture of sun and rain and snow.
F:并不像我们希望的那样多。那里的确不像北京这么热，也没有这么干燥。我知道我们英国人常抱怨天气，但实际上我认为我们充分享受了阳光和雨雪。

C: What about fog? I hear that there's a lot in London.
C:那雾呢？我听说伦敦雾多。

F: Well. that used to be true up t0 50 years ago but now London is fog free.
F:哦，那至少是50年前的事了，现在伦敦都没有雾了。

C: Why is that?
C:怎么回事？

F: Ever since the Clear Air Act of the early 50s we have moved away from coal to smokeless fuel and so the air has got a loC cleaner.
F:自从50年代初颁布了<空气清洁法》以来，我们就一直用无烟燃料取代煤，所以空气已经变得干净多了。

C: Which is your favourite season?
C：你最喜欢哪个季节呢？

F: I would have to say autumn because all the trees change colour as the leaves go ffom green to red. orange and brown and it really makes for a wonderful sight.
F：我最喜欢的是秋季，因为所有的树叶都由绿色变成红色、桔黄色和褐色，那景色真的漂亮极了。

C:What is winter like?
C:冬天是什么样的？

F: Really cold! We would get quite a bit of snow from December to March. Children love it but older people don't like it as much.
F：非常冷！我们从F2月起一直到次年3月份都会有很多霄天。孩子们非常喜欢下雪天，但年纪大一点的人兢不是很喜欢了。

【单词词组】

Raining cats and dogs下倾盆大雨   
It’s drizzling在下毛毛雨。
get the mixunum benefit from…  尽量从……获取好处
Fog free 没有雾

【背景介绍】
20世纪初，伦敦人大部分都使用煤作为家居燃料，产生大量烟雾。这些烟雾再加上伦敦气候，造成了伦敦“远近驰名”的烟霞，英语称为London Fog（伦敦雾）。因此，英语有时会把伦敦称作“大烟”（The Smoke），伦敦并由此得名“雾都”。1952年12月5日至9日期间，伦敦烟雾事件令4000人死亡，政府因而于1956年推行了《空气清净法案》，于伦敦部分地区禁止使用产生浓烟的燃料。时至今日，伦敦的空气质量已经得到明显改观。