最近台灣天氣多變化,尤其午後雷陣雨頻繁,能隨時掌握氣象預報並判斷是否攜帶雨具非常重要。而出國遊玩時,看懂天氣預報更是首要法則,
同時也是TOEIC測驗會出現的題型,今天我們來看看一些英文氣象預報常見說法,讓你出國玩也不會無所適從!
Showers may continue in the far East overnight, but for many areas it will be dry, clear and frosty.
Photo: Photo courtesy of photoAC / 照片:photoAC 提供
夜裡在遠東區域將可能會持續有陣雨,但是在許多地區天氣將會是乾燥、晴朗和嚴寒的。
shower 陣雨
Shower這個字大家都懂,take a shower「洗澡」想必不陌生,但是當shower用來當作天氣單字時,指的就是「陣雨」。其實就跟洗澡的概念一樣,洗澡時用蓮蓬頭一陣一陣的沖洗,就如同雨一陣一陣地下。以上例句用複數來表達陣雨下的次數多於一次。
overnight 一夕之間、過夜
overnight 是個很常見的副詞,有「一夕之間、過夜」的概念。
He became a millionaire overnight. (他一夕之間變成了百萬富翁。)
Lisa stayed at her best friend’s place overnight. (Lisa 在她好朋友家過夜。)
注意在第二個例句中還是必須要有一個動詞stay來表達待在那裡的意思,因此大家在使用上不要因為他的中文解釋而忽略詞性的重要性,造成句子的不完整甚至使用錯誤,這也是台灣英文學習者常犯的錯誤,還需注意。
後面用了幾個常見的形容詞描述天氣狀況,dry是「乾燥的」意思,也可以當動詞用,
Please dry your hands after you wash them.(請在洗完手後擦乾。)
clear 晴朗的
clear 這個字雖然看起來簡單,卻常常造成學生誤解,主要是因為他在不同情境可以有不同意思,在天氣預報情境中他指的是「晴朗的」,在其他情境中卻有「清楚的」意思。
Do you think the teacher’s explanation is clear? (你認為老師的解釋清楚嗎?)
例句裡的clear 明顯不是晴朗的意思,所以只能解釋成是清楚的。由於在TOEIC 聽力測驗中前兩部份喜歡考混淆字或同音異義字,因此這要特別注意。
另外clear 也可當成動詞,有「清除」之意。
Please clear the hallway, so the gurney can come through.
(請將走道淨空,這樣病床才能夠穿過。)
在TOEIC 閱讀部分常有拍賣的情境,其中將這個單字稍做變化後產生的單字就是clearance,代表「清空、清倉」的意思,因此clearance sale 就是「清倉大拍賣」,而clearance products 則是「清倉貨品」。
frosty 冰冷的
最後frosty 這個單字來自於frost 這個名詞,意思是「霜」,就是「嚴寒」的意思,同時也代表天氣冷到結霜的概念。英文單字通常名詞或動詞後面加上「-y」常常會改變詞性,變成了形容詞,如sweat vs. sweaty/wind vs. windy/mood vs. moody/bump vs. bumpy 等等都是類似的意思,藉由這樣的方法增加單字才能迅速有效。
gusty 陣風
Gusty 其實也正是來自於名詞gust 的形容詞,「一陣陣強風」就可以用gust 來形容。
Gusty winds will ease inland, whilst remaining windy along the coast.
(內陸的陣陣強風將會減緩,不過沿海地區還是維持風大的情況。)
A sudden gust of wind blew the door shut.(突然一陣強風將門一吹關上了。)
這裡採用字尾加上「-y」變成形容詞的用法,gusty winds 就是陣陣強風的意思。
remain 保持
remain 也就是「保持、保留」的意思。從上面的天氣預報來看,動詞後面加上形容詞的remaining windy,這種動詞廣義來說屬於linking verbs「連綴動詞」,用法主要是連結主詞和後方的受詞,通常是形容詞或名詞,因此後面的受詞其實是用來修飾主詞的補語,所以不能使用一般副詞修飾動詞的用法。
He remained a good student in college.(他大學時期維持好學生的樣子。)
Please remain seated while we change the batteries of the projector.
(麻煩大家在我們更換投影機的電池時,維持坐在原位上。)
【TOEIC 多益模擬試題】
Coast weather will continue to be warm and sunny for the next two days. At the weekend, though, clouds will be moving in on the north part of the coast. The temperatures there will drop into the low 70s, with showers on Saturday and possible thunder storms on Sunday. On the south coast, the sun should continue through the weekend, with highs in the middle 80s. At the start of next week, we expect some clearing in the north, with rain in the mornings and partly sunny skies in the afternoons.
1. What is the main purpose of the report?
(A) To forecast the weather (B) To warn listeners of a storm
(C) To broadcast the news (D) To update traffic
2. When is rain predicted on the north part of the coast?
(A) The next two days
(B) Friday
(C) On the weekend
(D) Next week
【解析】
1. 正解為(A)。句意為「這邊報告的主要目的為何?」文章用了各種不同的地區名詞表達不同區域的天氣狀況,如 Coast、the north part of the coast、On the south coast、in the north、in the south 等,並使用不同形容詞或名詞來代表天氣狀況,如warm and sunny、clouds、showers、thunder storms、clearing、highs,都顯示這是篇氣象預報,故(A)為正確答案。
2. 正解為(C)。句意為「北部沿海地區預計何時會降雨?」後面提到At the weekend, though, clouds will be moving in on the north part of the coast. The temperatures there will drop… with showers on Saturday and possible thunder storms on Sunday.「週末期間北部沿海地區會有雲,氣溫會降至…週六會有陣雨而週日會有雷雨。」很明顯地指出北部沿海地區週末氣候,其中最後兩句提到週末會有陣雨和雷雨,故(C)為正確答案。
SOURCE: https://www.englishok.com.tw/top-news/weather-travel-clothes
文章由TOEIC Program Taiwan · Chun Shin提供:
www.facebook.com/ToeicProgramTaiwan
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