新西兰英语 570 Is this summer?

 　　Much of New Zealand has been very cloudy and cool so far this month. However, some inland places, especially Central Otago, have had hot weather. Usually February is our hottest month so the cool temperatures and winds for most of us are disappointing.

　　The cloudier and wetter weather may be the result of La Nina but experts say that only about 25% of our weather is because of El Nino and La Nina cycles. These cycles are present in the South Pacific every three to seven years. El Nino means ‘the little boy, the Christ¹ child’ because it happens around Christmas time. La Nina is ‘the girl’.

　　In summer, El Nino brings strong westerly wind and rain on the west coast of New Zealand, while the east coast is drier than usual. On the other hand, La Nina brings more tropical² cyclones³ than usual, south to New Zealand and Australia. The North Island and the north of the South Island get more of those strong north easterly winds and heavy rain.

　　However, our weather is affected⁴ by many other things. Most importantly, the latitude⁵ of our country goes from 34 degrees in the far north to 47 degrees in the far south so there is a big difference in climate from the north to the south. The sea around our islands keeps the temperatures moderate⁶: we don’t have extremes of hot or cold. Also, the mountains down the centre of the islands force the westerly winds to drop their moisture⁷ on the west coasts of both islands and continue as dry winds over the east.

　　Vocabulary

　　?inland – not on the coast

　　?disappointing – we expected something better so we are not very happy

　　?experts – people who know a lot about this, weather scientists

　　?cycles – events that are repeated

　　?El Nino and La Nina are Spanish words because fishermen from Peru were the first people to notice this change in the sea temperature and weather

　　?tropical – comes from near the equator⁸, hot

　　?cyclones –storm

　　?affected – influenced, these things make our weather change

　　?latitude – distance from the equator

　　?climate – general weather that happens most years

　　?moderate – in the middle, not too hot or cold

　　?extremes – very hot or very cold

　　?force – in a powerful way

　　?moisture – water, rain or snow

　　Note spelling of:

　　?cloudy, cloudier; dry, drier;

　　?wet, wetter; hot, hottest

1 Christ   

n.基督，救世主，耶稣

参考例句：

• I regarded him as the Christ.我把他当作救世主。
• Christ preached that we should love each other.基督在布道中说人们应该互爱。

2 tropical   

adj.热带的，热带的，炎热的

参考例句：

• You must grow these tropical flowers in a glasshouse.你必须把这些热带花卉种在温室里。
• This disease is widespread in tropical areas.这种疾病在热带地区蔓延很广。

3 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

6 moderate   

adj.适度的，稳健的，温和的，中等的；v.节制，使...稳定，使...缓和；n.稳健的人

参考例句：

• You should moderate your language when children are present.在孩子面前，你说话应该有节制。
• The wind is moderate today.今天的风很柔和。

7 moisture   

n.水分；降雨量；水气；湿气

参考例句：

• This tree drank up more moisture than that one.这棵树吸收的水分比那棵树多。
• The moisture in the air makes it humid today.今天空气中水气大，天气很潮湿。

8 equator   

n.赤道，（平分球形物体的面的）圆

参考例句：

• Singapore is near the equator.新加坡位于赤道附近。
• The United States is north of the equator.美国位于赤道以北。