【英语时差8,16】雪会说话？（上）

“Probably all, or nearly all, who have experienced a cold winter, are familiar with the cheery cry of the snow as it is pressed against a hard surface by the steel tire of a wagon¹, for instance, or even onto a pavement by the heels of one’s boots.” Those words were written many decades ago by the physicist² W.J. Humphreys in a book called Physics of the Air. Humphreys went on to suggest that creaking of snow is connected with very cold temperatures. Humphreys said that when the temperature is just below freezing and snow is easily packed into snowballs, footsteps and rolling wheels won’t create much sound. His reasoning is based on the fact that applying pressure to ice lowers its melting temperature. If ice is so warm that it’s about to melt anyway — say, at a temperature of 30 or 31 degrees Fahrenheit³ — then a little pressure will be all that is necessary to melt it.

1 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

2 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

3 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。