Snowstorm
Sweeps Northeastern US
VOA News
Last updated on: January 27, 2015 6:18 PM (source)
Snowstorm
Sweeps Northeastern US
暴
風雪橫掃美國東北部
VOA News
Last updated on: January 27, 2015 6:18 PM
A massive winter storm dropped up to 60 centimeters of snow in some
parts of the northeastern U.S. Monday and Tuesday, but fell short of forecasters' worst
predictions.
強大的冬季暴風雪在美國東北部降下了約60公分的雪，但還未達(fall short of .
. .)預測中的威力。
Massachusetts and Connecticut saw some of the heaviest snow. Blizzard warnings remained in effect in Massachusetts Tuesday
afternoon, as well as in coastal areas of Maine and Rhode Island.
最強的降雪在麻州與康乃狄克州。麻州和靠海岸的緬因州與羅德
島州到周二下午時間，暴風雪警報
(blizzard warnings)仍未解除，仍有效(in effect)。
High winds,
snow
Snow was not the only danger from the storm, which also carried
powerful winds. The highest reported winds reached 126 kilometers per
hour on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket. Power outages and flooding were also
reported in the state.
風暴除帶來降雪以外，強風也是危害。麻州南塔克特島上回報的
最高風速已達到每小時126公里，麻州也紛紛傳出電力中斷(power outage)與
水災的消息。
In New York and New Jersey, it was a different story as officials and
forecasters were forced to defend their strong warnings after the storm
produced less snow than anticipated.
在紐約與紐澤西則是兩樣情。因為風暴帶來的影響比預期中小，
官員與預報人員
(forecaster)忙著為預測失準辯護(defend)。
The governors of New York and New Jersey began lifting travel bans after dawn Tuesday, while the
National Weather Service canceled its blizzard warning for New York
City.
紐約與紐澤西州在周二清晨取消了旅遊禁令(lifting
travel bans)，美國國家氣象局也取消了紐約市的暴風雪警報。
"This is nothing like we feared it would be," New York City Mayor Bill
de Blasio told CNN. De Blasio had earlier warned the storm could be one
of the worst the city had ever faced.
紐約市市長受訪時表示，「這跟我們擔心會發生的狀況還有一段
距離」。稍早時他曾語出警告，這將是紐約面臨過最嚴重的一場風暴。
In Manhattan's largely deserted Times Square, residents were underwhelmed.
人群大致都撤離了曼哈頓的時代廣場，但居民們對這場暴風雪的
影響並無特別感受
(underwhelmed)。
"I was expecting 2 feet [60 cm], and it's only like a couple of inches
[5 cm]," said New York resident Allison Tiberie. "So they're making a
big deal out of nothing. I didn't think it was that bad."
一位紐約當地居民表示，「我本來以為會有兩英尺(60公分)
的積雪，但現在好像只有兩吋而已(5公分)。官員們小題大作了(making a big
deal out of nothing)，這場風暴沒這麼嚴重。」
New York state's governor, Andrew Cuomo, defended the decision to implement the travel bans, saying it
was better to be safe than sorry.
紐約州州長辯護其施行(implement)旅
遊禁令的決定，表示防範於未然，流
汗總比流血好(better safe than sorry)。
"I would rather, if there's a lean one way or another, if you
will, lean toward safety," he said. "Because I've seen the consequences
the other way, and it gets very frightening, very quickly. And I've
seen people put in extraordinarily dangerous situations, and we've had
people die in storms."
「如果有兩個可能的決策方向，我寧可作出過度傾向(lean toward . . .)安
全為上策的決定。我看過不顧風險所做的決策與後果(consequences)，
情勢演變的非常快，令人措手不及，群眾被置身於極度危險的情形中，也有人在風暴中喪命。」
The New York Stock Exchange was operating normally Tuesday, but United
Nations headquarters and many
schools and businesses across the Northeast were closed.
紐約證卷交易所於周二正常開市，但聯合國總部(headquarters)沒
有開門，東北部多處也停課、停班。
Thousands of flights across the region were canceled, according to
FlightAware.com. The blizzard had a ripple effect on travelers and
airports all across the U.S. As far south as Atlanta's
Hartsfield-Jackson airport, more than 50 flights were canceled. The
only reported death in the storm occurred on New York's Long Island,
which was hit much harder than Manhattan. The victim was a teenager who
crashed into a light post while snow tubing.
根據一飛航資訊網站的調查，受影響區域內有上萬班次的飛機取
消。全美國的旅客與機場也受暴風雪的連
帶效應(a ripple effect)影響，一路往南到亞特蘭大的機場都有50班次取消。紐約長島受風雪襲擊的程度高於曼哈頓，是目前
唯一傳出死亡消息的地方。死者是一位青少年，滑雪胎(snow tubing)時
衝撞到路邊的燈柱。
Washington
escapes blizzard
The brunt of the storm missed
the nation's capital, which saw only light snow mixed with rain, but
federal offices and public schools in the city opened two hours late
Tuesday to give people extra travel time.
美首都華盛頓躲過這場暴風雪的衝擊(brunt)，只有混雜
雨勢的小雪，但聯邦政府辦公室和公立學校周二都晚兩小時開始，讓群眾有更多交通通勤時間。
On social media, Americans waiting out the snowstorm posted photos and
videos of their cities blanketed in white. Hashtags such as
#blizzardof2015 and #Snowmageddon2015 quickly gained traction.
等待暴風雪平息(wait . . .out)的
美國群眾把被雪覆蓋住的城市照片與影片張貼在社交媒體網站上。暴風雪相關的關鍵字標籤(hashtag)很
快地在網路上得到很大迴響
(gain traction)。(編按：hash一字是單指 “#” 這個符號，hashtag是指在 “#”
符號後在加上一個文字標籤，是現在很多社交網站的一種發文與串聯相關訊息的輸入格式；gain traction原是指「得到支持、有
進展」，但用在網路上是表達某個話題「引起多人注意，有很多人關注」的意思。)
As officials and residents prepared for the worst, Broadway theater
productions in Manhattan went dark Monday night, New York-area National
Basketball Association teams postponed games and store shelves cleared
out quickly as people scrambled
to pick up supplies. Drivers largely heeded
orders to stay off the streets in both New York and Boston overnight.
官員與居民都為了暴風雪做了最壞打算。曼哈頓百老匯劇院的展演(production)於
周一晚熄燈，紐約區NBA也延後賽
事(postpone games)。群眾搶著(scramble)添購
物資，店家的貨物架很快就被清空。駕駛人也特別注意(heed)指示，夜間不
行走紐約和波士頓的街道。
Originally, up to 90 centimeters of snow was expected to fall in some
regions of the Northeast, accompanied by near-hurricane-force winds and
coastal flooding.
在原本的預期中，東北部分區域會有多至90公分的降雪，伴隨
颶風強度的陣風和沿岸的淹水
(coastal flooding)災情。
Language Notes
1. fall
short of (v phr) 達不到，未達 . . . 程度
2. blizzard
(n) 暴風雪
3. in effect
(p phr) 生效
4. power
outage (n phr) 停電
5. lift a ban
( v phr) 取消禁令
6. underwhelm
(v)
未給留下深刻印象 *這個字的反義字比較常見，overwhelm是指程度很重大，「讓人印象深刻」至「難以招架」，而underwhelm恰好相反，
如新聞中用法，本來對某件事情很期待，做好了準備，但實際上卻不如預期
7. implement
(v) 履行，實施
8.
headquarters (n) 總部 *本字是「單複數同型」，字尾一定有 “s”，要注意！
9. cripple
(v) 癱瘓；損壞
10. brunt
(n) 主要的衝擊、撞擊
11. wait out
. . . (v phr) 等待 . . . 結束
12. scramble
(v) 急忙地要去. . . *本字常見語意是把東西「打亂、弄亂」；烹飪時把蛋打碎來吃的「炒蛋」就是scrambled eggs
13. heed
(v) 注意，留心
Check your vocabulary!
Fill
in the blanks with a word or phrase from the list above. Make necessary
changes. After you finish, select the text above to reveal the hidden
answers.
1. A recent report showed how older workers bear the brunt of economic recession.
2. The traffic was entirely crippled
for the day.
3. Supply fell short of demand.
4. We have decided to implement the
committee's recommendations in full.
5. They were scrambling to give the
impression that the situation was in control.
6. Eliot had to drive home in the blizzard.
編譯：簡嘉呈
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