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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
You know it's cold in Chicago when TV video shows the railroad tracks on fire. Steel rails contract in exceptional cold. So to warm them up, transit1 workers stretch rope soaked in kerosene2 along the tracks, and they burn it. The temperature in Chicago was 18 degrees below zero this morning, and it was even colder elsewhere. What's it feel like to be in that cold? NPR's David Schaper found out, so you don't have to.
(SOUNDBITE OF WALKING THROUGH SNOW)
DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE3: When it's this cold outside, pens won't write. You got to use pencil. And batteries and digital recorders die quickly, so I got to talk fast. One of the ways to tell it's getting really, really cold is how the snow sounds when you walk on it. The colder it gets, the more it kind of crunches4 and squeaks6. Anyone under the age of about 35 living in Chicago their whole lives has probably never heard the snow squeak5 like this because the last time it was this cold here was 1985.
RICHARD VARGAS: Oh, this cold is very dangerous. Hypothermia can set in within minutes.
SCHAPER: Richard Vargas is with The Salvation7 Army in Chicago.
VARGAS: So if someone's out here and they're exposed or don't have the adequate amount of clothing on, it could be very treacherous8 actually.
SCHAPER: In addition to providing hot meals out of their large, red, canteen food trucks...
UNIDENTIFIED SALVATION ARMY EMPLOYEE: You've got gloves, bro?
SCHAPER: ...The Salvation Army is handing out gloves, scarves and hats, giving rides to warming shelters and making extra nighttime trips out to check up on homeless camps. And this kind of outreach is going on in cities all across the Midwest, as the coldest weather in decades drops temperatures well below zero and will likely keep them there for days. The polar vortex, which usually sits over the Arctic, is being pushed south by an unseasonably warm air mass to the north. National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Otto says that bitterly cold air is being whipped by strong northerly winds, creating dangerous wind chills.
RICH OTTO: Values as cold as minus 30 to minus 50 degrees in a couple of locations - and even colder as you get farther north into parts of Minnesota, where some of those wind chills could get down to minus 60.
SCHAPER: Wind-chill warnings and advisories9 stretch from the Dakotas to western Pennsylvania. Airlines have canceled thousands of flights as they tried to limit outdoor workers' exposure to the cold. And the governors of Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois have declared emergencies. Here's Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
J.B. PRITZKER: This is very serious weather, and my administration is not underestimating the gravity of this in how we respond. We are undertaking10 a coordinated11 effort to keep people safe, but we need all Illinoisans to do their part.
SCHAPER: Colleges - from the University of South Dakota to Kent State in Ohio - are canceling classes. Schools in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, St. Louis and Minneapolis are all closed. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz considered shuttering all schools statewide but decided12 against it.
TIM WALZ: In many cases, these local officials know best. And one of the things that I'm concerned about is - is when you close a school sometimes, that is the place of warmth and food that is not available elsewhere.
SCHAPER: The U.S. Postal13 Service is suspending mail delivery today in Minnesota, Iowa, western Wisconsin and western Illinois. But not everyone is dreading14 this deep freeze.
STEVE FAIVRE: We were generally pretty happy to see it coming.
SCHAPER: Steve Faivre farms with his family in northern Illinois.
FAIVRE: These frosts are really kind of good - these deep-cold cycles - because it'll generally help freeze out and knock off some of the pests in the field. It also helps break up the soil with the freezing and thawing15.
SCHAPER: The other good news is that forecasters call for a heat wave this weekend with temperatures in Chicago expected to climb into the 40s - above zero. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.
(SOUNDBITE OF MICHITA'S "MIZORE")
1 transit | |
n.经过,运输;vt.穿越,旋转;vi.越过 | |
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2 kerosene | |
n.(kerosine)煤油,火油 | |
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3 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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4 crunches | |
n.(突发的)不足( crunch的名词复数 );需要做出重要决策的困难时刻;紧要关头;嘎吱的响声v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的第三人称单数 );嘎吱作响;(快速大量地)处理信息;数字捣弄 | |
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5 squeak | |
n.吱吱声,逃脱;v.(发出)吱吱叫,侥幸通过;(俚)告密 | |
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6 squeaks | |
n.短促的尖叫声,吱吱声( squeak的名词复数 )v.短促地尖叫( squeak的第三人称单数 );吱吱叫;告密;充当告密者 | |
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7 salvation | |
n.(尤指基督)救世,超度,拯救,解困 | |
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8 treacherous | |
adj.不可靠的,有暗藏的危险的;adj.背叛的,背信弃义的 | |
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9 advisories | |
n.(有关进展、动向、建议等的)报告( advisory的名词复数 );公告;通告;通报 | |
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10 undertaking | |
n.保证,许诺,事业 | |
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11 coordinated | |
adj.协调的 | |
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12 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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13 postal | |
adj.邮政的,邮局的 | |
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14 dreading | |
v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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15 thawing | |
n.熔化,融化v.(气候)解冻( thaw的现在分词 );(态度、感情等)缓和;(冰、雪及冷冻食物)溶化;软化 | |
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