万花筒 2009-07-27&07-28 日食追逐者涌向中国

Anticipation¹ is mounting for the moment the sun will slip behind the moon over Shanghai, touted² as one of the best spots to watch the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century.

 "The moon is going to block the sun completely for five to six minutes."

 "I like it. I figure it's like really special and it's gonna happen only once in my life."

 Armed with special eclipse viewing glasses tourists have flown thousands of miles to witness one of nature's grandest spectacles in China. Charles Fulco, a middle school astronomy teacher from New York is a professional eclipse chaser.

 "That you can't find words to adequately describe it, you become addicted³, you need to see the next one, you count the days and years until the next one. It's nothing else on earth compares to it to be standing⁴ in the shadow of a moving object a quarter of million miles away."

 "Well, this is something magic, you know, it is something she would never see again."

 "I wait for the total eclipse, I think, for forty years."

The eclipse will plunge⁵ cities from India to China into darkness making it perhaps the most viewed eclipse in human history, mystifying and terrifying at once, especially for those who may not understand what is happening. In ancient China, eclipses were feared and often vastly misunderstood.

"A long time ago Chinese people didn't know what to think when the sky went black," says this man," they thought a dragon from the heavens was eating the sun.

Anticipation's building almost as much as anxiety. It is sunny now, but forecasts in Shanghai are predicting rain. Tourists who’ve travelled from around the world to see this are scrambling⁶ to change their plans, consulting satellite maps, cloud counts and good old-fashioned instincts in hopes of finding an opening in the clouds anywhere.

Some are rebooking plane tickets last minute, others are staying put.

It’s a tough call.

"Oh, I'm dying already, are you kidding? This is crazy. Came 12 thousand miles for five and a half minutes of totality. That should tell you right there that it’s gotta be the best thing you could have ever seen.”

So whatever the weather for whoever is watching, when the heavens darken over China, all eyes will be on the sky.

Emily Chang, CNN, Shanghai.

A tough call: a difficult decision, a hard choice

 

1 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

2 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

3 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

6 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》