听播客学英语 280 下雪（在线收听）

 　　Today it is snowing. This is unusual. In England nowadays, it does not snow as often as it used to. Where I live, we get only one or two light falls of snow every winter. And when there is even a moderate fall of snow, there is chaos on the roads and railways. Two years ago, here in Birmingham, two centimeters of snow was enough to bring the city to a standstill. The next day all the schools in the city were closed, and the children played outside and built snowmen and threw snowballs. Today, I imagine children in school are looking anxiously out of the window, hoping that there will be so much snow that tomorrow they will not have to go to school. I am afraid they will be disappointed. The snow is already turning to sleet, and melting on the ground. Tomorrow will not be crisp and clear with snow on the ground, it will be just another cold wet English winter’s day. Nonetheless, I will read you a short poem about the snow by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.