美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-12-19

 Earlier this week we talked about the thermostat¹ setting in new low: one hundred thirty-five point eight degrees below zero. That was temeperature reading in Axx in 2010 and some researcher say it could be the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth. Things aren't that called in United States. But the winter weather is in full effect, snow ice, freezing rains, sleet² and bitter cold. This storm spread across huge part of the country. They can have physical impact we all know about. But winter weather can also take a mental toll³ and economic one. 

 

Everybody throughout the area is at the freezing mark.

 

You find today was cold.  

 

The next few days are gonna be very cold. 

 

Frigid⁴ temps  gripping the nation  as another blast of Arctic has millions from the great lakes to the north east waking up in the deep freeze. 

 

City after city experiencing temperatures 20 degrees or more below average. The coldest has got in the taste of winter. 

 

Four casters say the Windy city already feeling like its earlier subzero temperature since 1995. Earlier this week, morning temps plunge⁵ to 6 below zero. It's a same story in frozen Fargo. They had single digit⁶ temps all below for a full week. New Yorkers bundling up for their morning commute⁷ with brutle windchills that feel like the teens and twenties.  Bitter cold temps made fighting this apartment fire in Wxx challenging for the fire fighters. It's so cold in Wxx that report for CNN  affiliate WAOW left this banana outside in negative 2 degree air for just 30 minutes. 

 

So when we come back we find the banana completely frozen solid. So frozen in fact, I can acturally use it to hammer on this nail. 

 

And in Mxxx, Pxx is one of the coldest spots in America. Hospitals there already preparing for influx⁸ of hypothermia and frosby cases. And doctors urging people to stay indoors. 

 

As you get colder and colder, your decision making gets worse and worse. The longer you are out, the more damage's done. And that can be fatal. 

 

All right, we've been reporting for a while on political unresting Ukraine. The country split between people who want close tight with European Union and people who wanna be more aligned⁹ with Russia. A country's alliances can affect who it trades with. And some of the decisions that is government makes. The current unrest started with when Ukraine's President  rejected a trade agreement with European Union. But yesterday, President Victory Yanukovych met with representives from EU and afterword, they said he's changed his mind. 

 

He indicated he still wishes to sign the association agreement with European Union. From our perspective,we think that's good for this country. 

 

Nothing will be official until President Yanukovych sighs the deal and commissioner¹⁰ Ashxx says that the Ukrainian leader  still needs to resolve the conflicts in his country. 

 

Next up today, phones in flight. Should you be able to make a cell-phone call on a plane. On a blog few weeks ago, Dxx said it's a good idea. Rob said: No way; and  Hexx said: yes. But only a research proves it won't cause problems. THe big question is what the FCC think. The Federal Communication's Commission currently  has a ban on the in flight cell-phone calls. But yesterday the FCC voted three to two to cosider lifting that ban. At the same time, the US transportation department said it might look into banning cell-phone call during flights. One thing is for sure on all this, the issue is dialing up a lot of debate. 

 

We can already connect from almost everywhere. And cell-phone calls from cruising altitude maybe next. The Federal Communication's Commission's chairman says the ban on cell-phone use on passanger flights is outdated¹¹ and restrictive. And he's proposing  allowing cell-phone use above 10000 feet. The FCC says techonogy is advanced enough, so the cell-phone transmission from the air would no longer interfere¹² with cell-towers on the ground. But it's the response from flying public that's all the ....

 

You can use them almost everywhere else on the buses, on trains, but for airplanes, there's some pretty stiff resistence to the use of cellphone. Here's the passanger Judie Carol. Judie, what do you think of it?

 

I think the phone call can wait. I think, you know, if that is important to you, before you board the plane, wait untill you land. 

 

You might wanna talk entire flight at a loud voice about every single problem you have in your family, blablabla. Right? So I'm afraid it won't work. 

 

That potential tension between passangers is also a safety hazard. According to the Flight Attendents Union, which is against the idea, they say it's also a security risk,

 

We have concerns abou the ability for those who might wish to do harm to be able to accordinate during  a flight or among flights. 

 

But some passangers say the ability to communicate trumps¹³ all. 

 

There's lots of work I do, that I need to be in touch with people. And an hour and a half, that I spend flying between Axx and DC, I lose that time. 

 

But at time when we all face more crowded flights, delays, add charges for bags and meals, be ready to pay more for calls from the air. A consumer Axx says, airlines and wireless¹⁴ carriers will pass the cost of installing capability¹⁵ to you. 

 

You're going to either have to sigh an extra service or you're gonna have to pay serious roaming charges, you know, probably in excess of 2 dollars per minute for every phone call you make. 

 

In the air?

 

In the air. 

 

Or maybe much more. Outside the US where the capability already exist, some customers have been charged 12 dollars a minute. As for the US, if the FCC lifts the cellphone ban, it's going to be  up to the individual airlines to choose whether to provide cell-service to passangers. 

 

1 thermostat   

n.恒温器

参考例句：

• The thermostat is connected by a link to the carburetor.恒温控制器是由一根连杆与汽化器相连的。
• The temperature is controlled by electronic thermostat with high accuracy.电子恒温器，准确性高。

2 sleet   

n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹

参考例句：

• There was a great deal of sleet last night.昨夜雨夹雪下得真大。
• When winter comes,we get sleet and frost.冬天来到时我们这儿会有雨夹雪和霜冻。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

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 digit   

n.零到九的阿拉伯数字，手指，脚趾

参考例句：

• Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
• Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。

7 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

8 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

9 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

10 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

11 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

12 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

13 trumps   

abbr.trumpets 喇叭；小号；喇叭形状的东西；喇叭筒v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去式 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• On the day of the match the team turned up trumps. 比赛那天该队出乎意料地获得胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Every time John is late getting home he trumps up some new excuse. 每次约翰晚回家都会编造个新借口。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

15 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。