新西兰英语 49 Snow

　　Many high places in New Zealand have had heavy snow falls in the last few days. Roads over mountain passes in the South Island and the Desert Road in the North Island have been closed. And there has been more snow on mountains. This should make skiers happy but many ski fields have been closed because of the snow.
At this time of year, snow is heavier and contains more water. It is less stable and can easily slip down a slope causing an avalanche¹. Police warned people this weekend to be aware of avalanche danger if they climb in mountainous areas.
A team of 6 Australians was rescued from the Mt Cook area on Saturday morning. They had been climbing for five days when a blizzard² struck. Although they were only around 450m from a hut, they couldn’t move because the snow was so deep and they couldn’t see where they were going. They put up their tent but it kept getting covered in snow so they took it in turns to go out, take the snow off the tent and get back inside where it was warmer. They could hear small avalanches³ so it was not safe to move.
The Australians set off an emergency beacon⁴ on Thursday afternoon and the Search and Rescue headquarters⁵ at Mt Cook Village received the signal. Search and Rescue tried to send a helicopter to the area but the weather was too bad. The next day, there was a break in the weather so a plane searched for the missing⁶ people but did not find them: their tent was white and the snow around was white so it was not easy to see them. On Saturday, the weather had improved a little so Search and Rescue could send a helicopter but they were worried that the helicopter blades⁷ would start an avalanche. Fortunately, this didn’t happen. The Australians were rescued after waving a yellow flag to show where they were. They were cold, wet and hungry but very happy to see Mt Cook Village again.

1 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

2 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

3 avalanches   

n.雪崩( avalanche的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The greatest dangers of pyroclastic avalanches are probably heat and suffocation. 火成碎屑崩落的最大危害可能是炽热和窒息作用。 来自辞典例句
• Avalanches poured down on the tracks and rails were spread. 雪崩压满了轨道，铁轨被弄得四分五裂。 来自辞典例句

4 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

5 headquarters   

n.司令部，指挥部；总部，总店

参考例句：

• Several great guns from the headquarters are coming to see us today.总部的几个大人物今天要来看我们。
• The bank has its headquarters in Pairs.这家银行的总行在巴黎。

6 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

7 blades   

n.刀口( blade的名词复数 )；（机器上旋转的）叶片；桨叶；（船桨的）桨叶

参考例句：

• the blades of a propeller 螺旋桨叶
• Stay well away from the helicopter when its blades start to rotate. 直升机的螺旋桨开始转动时，尽量离远点儿。