听播客学英语 228 热浪

 　　When we have several days of very hot weather, we call it a heatwave.In Britain, we are having a heatwave at present. In fact, we are having record high temperatures. Yesterday, 19 July, was the hottest July day on record. The highest temperature (36.3 degrees C) was measured at a place called Charlwood which is near London Gatwick Airport.

　　Throughout the country, people have crowded into swimming pools or into the sea to keep cool. Respectable businessmen and civil servants have gone to work wearing shorts. In some places the tar¹ on the roads has melted. And here in Birmingham, the heat has buckled² railway lines just outside our main railway station, which has caused chaos³.

　　Owners of ice cream vans have done a roaring trade. There was a different sort of roaring trade at Colchester Zoo. There, the keepers gave the lions blocks of ice flavoured with blood (ugh!) to keep them cool. (Look up “roaring trade” and “to roar” in a dictionary!)

　　Here are some of the words we might use to describe very hot weather: – hot – scorching⁴ – blistering⁵ – sweltering – baking – a heatwave – like an oven, like a furnace.

　　And if the weather is moist as well as hot, we can say – sultry – sticky – humid.

　　Do you know the expression “most like” and its opposite “least like”? Where would I most like to be in this hot weather? In my own private swimming pool, perhaps, with someone to bring me cold beers from time to time. And where would I least like to be? Easy – in a queue at Gatwick Airport.

1 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

2 buckled   

a. 有带扣的

参考例句：

• She buckled her belt. 她扣上了腰带。
• The accident buckled the wheel of my bicycle. 我自行车的轮子在事故中弄弯了。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 scorching   

adj. 灼热的

参考例句：

• a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
• a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评

5 blistering   

adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡

参考例句：

• The runners set off at a blistering pace. 赛跑运动员如脱缰野马般起跑了。
• This failure is known as preferential wetting and is responsible for blistering. 这种故障称为优先吸湿，是产生气泡的原因。 来自辞典例句