Solar eclipse attracts Chinese gazers,but weather may shadow

CHONGQING, July 22 (Xinhua) -- A total solar eclipse was viewed at 9:15 a.m. in many places along the upper stream of China's longest river of the Yangtze.

The moon shadow fully¹ blocked the sun, and gazers could clearly enjoy the aura of solar corona² in observation sites in west China's Chongqing Municipality and Guang'an City in neighboring Sichuan Province.

The cities turned off many landscape light for the convenience of the full solar eclipse, which lasted about four minutes.

Gazers also thronged³ to the banks of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers Wednesday morning in northwestern Lanzhou and central Wuhan cities as the moon started to shadow the sun at 8:15 a.m..

Partial solar eclipse started at 8:01'27 a.m. in Cona County, Tibet in southwest China, according to an observatory⁴ under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The county was one of the first places in the country to view the solar eclipse.

However, the solar view from Cona was blocked by overcast⁵, according to sources from the CAS Purple Mountain Observatory based in Nanjing, eastern Jiangsu Province.

Cona is 500 km south of Lhasa, Tibet's capital. The sun sunshine was blocked behind clouds in Lhasa as well on Wednesday.

Weather in many Chinese cities along the full solar eclipse path along the Yangtze River is not favorable for the observation, according to the China Meteorological Administration's forecast at 8:00 a.m..(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

3 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

5 overcast   

adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天

参考例句：

• The overcast and rainy weather found out his arthritis.阴雨天使他的关节炎发作了。
• The sky is overcast with dark clouds.乌云满天。