双语美文：水仙盛开 冬日安在？

 　　DaffodilsBloom, Ski Slopes Stay Snowless - Is Climate Change To Blame?

　　水仙盛开，雪场无雪：全是气候变暖惹的祸？

　　Daffodils are blooming outside the Eden Project in Cornwall in the latest cockeyedweather phenomenon to hit the UK and amid signs that winter is still not on its way.

　　最近的怪天气使得这个秋冬寒意全无，就连英格兰西南部的大型植物园“伊甸园”中的水仙花仍然在争奇斗艳，还有其他种种现象表明冬天的脚步还没到来。

　　Daffodils are usually not seen until well into the New Year, but unseasonably warm temperatures have seen the spring flowers blossoming with an unheard-ofmellowfruitfulness.

　　水仙花通常要在新年后才会开放，但现在这种不符合季节规律的温暖天气使得这种春天才会开花的植物也竞相绽放，形成了现在这种闻所未闻的“春意盎然”的景象。

　　Summer butterflies have been spotted¹ around the sunshine flowers and visitors have spotted fungiusually seen in September.

　　夏天才会见到的蝴蝶也在鲜花周围飞舞，游客们还能看到各种菌菇，这些菌菇通常只有在9月份才看得到。

　　Untimely flora² and faunaaren’t the only signs of vernalactivity continuing into what should be winter months. High profile ski resortsare yet to experience their first snowfall, while slopes in Austria and Switzerland are delaying their opening date, with artificialsnow cannons³ operating around the clockto make up forthe lack of snowfall.

　　事实上，这些春天的迹象不仅仅体现在动植物的这些异常情况上。就连著名的滑雪胜地也面临同样困境。至今，这些滑雪的天堂还没有遇到一场降雪。在奥地利和瑞士的滑雪场不得不推迟开放时间。人工造雪机不得不昼夜工作来弥补降雪不足的局面。

　　But experts say, “The natural variabilityin the UK weather is large, and so one warm autumn or cold summer does not either prove or disprove climate change. Climate change is all about long term trends, which are hard to detect in a weather record which has very large natural variability.”

　　但是专家称，“气候的自然变异在英国的确影响很大，但是一个暖冬或一个寒夏并不能证明是气候变化造成的。气候变化是长期的，我们不能用一种天气情况来判断说有大的气候自然变异。”

1 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

2 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

3 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》