沙塵暴席卷中國北部,“空氣末日”再臨北京
Dust Storms Blanket?Beijing and Northern China
Dust storms?enveloped[1]parts of northern?China?for a second day on Friday,reducing visibility?in cities like Beijing and threatening the health of millions of people.
周五，沙塵暴連續第二日籠罩中國北方，致使北京等城市能見度降低，空氣污染對成百上千萬人的健康構成了威脅。
[1]envelop/?n?vel?p/:to cover or surround something completely 覆蓋；包住；圍繞；籠罩
The graveyard looked ghostly,envelopedin mist.
墓地籠罩在薄霧中，顯得陰森森的。
Such storms have becomean increasingly common phenomenonforthe region, asChina's deserts expandbygobbling up[2]roughly 1,300 square miles a year. A half-century ago, such storms happenedevery seven or eight years; now they arean annual occurrence.
隨著中國的沙漠每年以約1300平方英里的速度擴張，這樣的天氣現象在中國北方已變得愈發常見。半個世紀以前，這樣的沙塵暴每七、八年出現一次，如今每年都會發生。
[2]gobble up:to use a lot of your supply of something, usually money 很快地用掉（通常指錢）
The mounting legal costs quicklygobbled uptheir savings.
日益增加的訴訟費很快耗盡了他們的積蓄。
The storms typically happen in the spring, as strong winds send soil and sand fromthe Gobi Desertovernorthern China and even the Korean Peninsula.
沙塵暴通常出現在春季，這個季節，強風會將來自戈壁沙漠的土壤和沙吹過中國北方，有時甚至會吹過朝鮮半島。
This week's dust storms led to the cancellation ofscores of[3]flights and caused pollution in northern China to soar. Beijing'sair-quality indexhit a dangerous level of623 on Thursday; the United States governmentratesreadings[4]above 200as "very unhealthy" and 301 to 500 as "hazardous."
本周的沙塵暴導致大量航班取消，北方的污染情況也隨之加重。周四，北京的空氣指數達到623。美國政府將200以上的數值列為“非常不健康”，301至500則為“危險”。
[3]scores of:a lot of things or people 許多，大量
Jack received cards fromscores oflocal well-wishers.
杰克收到了當地很多好心人送的賀卡。
*by the score：in large numbers 大量地，大批地
People are leaving the organizationby the score.
人們紛紛脫離了該組織。
[4]reading:[C] the number or amount that a piece of measuring equipment shows 讀數（一件測量設備所顯示的數字或量值）
a thermometerreading溫度計讀數
Expertstiethe problemtothe rapid urbanization of northern China, deforestation and climate change. The government has spent billions of dollars planting forests to stopthe creeping desertification, but some experts havequestioned whetherit has been effective enough in doing so.
專家將這一問題與中國北方快速的城市化、森林采伐以及氣候變化聯系起來。為阻止范圍不斷擴大的沙漠化，政府已在植樹造林方面花費了數十億美元，但一些專家對這樣做的有效程度提出了質疑。
The state news media in China said that children and the elderly should stay indoors during the storms. On both Thursday and Friday, the storms wereat their worstin the morning, with cities like Beijing clearing later in the day.
中國官方媒體敦促老人與兒童在沙塵暴期間待在室內。周四與周五兩天，沙塵暴都是在早間情況最為糟糕，在像北京這樣的城市里，沙塵暴在白天有所減輕。
Sand and dust stormstake placewhen hot air over the desertdestabilizesthe lower atmosphere,whipping up[5]strong winds that send huge amounts of sand hundreds or even thousands of miles.
當沙漠的熱空氣破壞了低層大氣的穩定性，掀起強風，將大量沙土揚至數百、甚至數千英里之外時，就會形成沙塵暴。
[5]whip up:to encourage or cause people to have strong feelings about something 煽動；激起
She criticized the organization for trying towhip upanti-immigrant prejudice.
她批評政府試圖煽動反移民的偏見。
He was trying towhip upsome enthusiasm for the project.
他正在試圖煽動人們對這個項目的狂熱。
The storms have been linked not only torespiratory illnessesbut also tolethal epidemicsbecause of the spread ofpotentially harmfulbacteria, viruses andfungal spores.
這樣的天氣不僅會導致呼吸疾病，還會因散播有可能對人體有害的細菌、病毒及真菌孢子，而產生致命流行病。
The dust storms typicallyhit[6]northern China after the region is afflicted by high wintertime smog, which is caused by coal-burning power plants, factories and vehicle emissions.
沙塵暴通常會在北京經過冬日霧霾侵襲后席卷中國北方，霧霾通常是由燃煤發電站、工廠和汽車排放所導致的。
[6]hit:If something?hits?a person, place, or thing, it affects them very badly. 對…造成嚴重影響
About two hundred people died in the earthquake whichhitnorthern Peru.
大約兩百人在那場襲擊秘魯北部的地震中喪生。
The plan to charge motorists to use the motorway is going tohitme hard.
向汽車駕駛員收取高速公路使用費這一方案會嚴重影響到我。
