美語情景對話 第256期:Hurricane 颶風

Todd: So Ivan, in America, in California we have earthquakes. Do you have any natural disasters in Houston?

託德：伊萬，美國加州發生過地震。你在休斯敦經歷過什麼自然災害嗎？

Ivan: Uh, it floods a lot and we get hurricanes. Houston's called a bayou city. Bayou is kind of like a dirty river. Sometimes it rains a lot, that thing fills up over, and the next thing you know you got water in your house. Hurricanes are really, really angry typhoons I think. The first hurricane I ever remember we name our hurricanes, you give them names, usually girl names, and the first hurricane I remember was back in 1984 named "Hurricane Alice" I believe. Um, I was in a soccer camp. It starts raining, oh my God it's raining, trees are falling down and cars are kind of being pushed away from the water and stuff and I'm scared to death that my parents are dead right. I was only seven years old. So I remember, I couldn't remember my phone number and the camp counselors were trying to look it up. Call up: ring, ring, ring. My mom answers the phone, "Are you OK? Are you OK?" "Yes, Ivan, we're OK. Don't worry about it. It's just a rain storm." But it was an absolute mess. The next day, the soccer field is completely wiped out. It was, yeah, they're big angry storms.

伊萬：嗯，那裏經常發洪水，還有颶風。休斯敦被稱爲牛沼城。牛沼是一種很髒的河流。有時休斯敦會下許多雨，會積水，之後你的房間裏就會進水。我想颶風是非常強的颱風。我記得經歷的第一場颶風是，實際上我們會爲颶風命名，賦予它們名字，通常會是女孩的名字，我記得的第一場颶風要追溯到1984年，名爲“颶風艾麗絲”。嗯，我當時在參加足球夏令營。突然開始下雨，天哪，下雨了，樹被衝倒了，汽車也被水沖走，我怕得要死，我怕父母會出事。我當時只有7歲。我記得，我都記不起電話號碼了，夏令營輔導員試圖查找電話號碼。然後撥通了電話，鈴鈴鈴。我媽媽接了電話，“你們還好嗎？你們還好嗎？”“是的，伊萬，我們很好。別擔心。這只是一場暴風雨。”不過那真是一片混亂。第二天，足球場完全被毀了。沒錯，颶風是非常強的颱風。

Todd: How long does a hurricane usually last?

託德：一般情況下颶風會持續多長時間？

Ivan: Usually, about two or three days.

伊萬：通常來說，大約會持續兩天到三天的時間。

Todd: Oh, really?

託德：哦，真的嗎？

Ivan: Yeah, they just kind of stay in Houston. They like Houston. Something about the weather pattern. They just float to Houston and stay there.

伊萬：對，它們就待在休斯敦。它們喜歡休斯敦。這與氣候模式有關。它們抵達休斯敦然後停在那裏。

Todd: Man, that's pretty intense. So afterward everything is just kind of wiped out.

託德：嘿，那真令人緊張。那之後一切都會被摧毀。

Ivan: Ah, a lot of windows are broken. I said a lot of cars are upside down sometimes, cause the wind is really, really high, plus you got the water that floats the cars, but it's fun when it stops cause the streets are flooded and you can go swimming.

伊萬：嗯，會有大量的窗戶破掉。有時大量汽車被掀翻，因爲風力太強了，而且颶風帶來的洪水會淹沒汽車，不過颶風停止以後會很有意思，因爲街道被淹了，你可以在那裏游泳。

Todd: You swim in the water?

託德：你在那水裏游泳？

Ivan: Sure. Sure. It's just rain water.

伊萬：沒錯。對。那其實就是雨水。

重點講解：
1. be scared to death
非常恐懼的；極度害怕的；嚇得要死的；嚇傻的；
eg. In high school I was scared to death of you.
高中時我怕你怕得要命。
eg. His face was white and he looked scared to death.
他臉色蒼白，非常驚慌。
2. call up
（給…）打電話；
eg. He called up the museum.
他給博物館打了電話。
eg. Sometimes I'd even call up at 4 a.m.
有時我甚至早上四點都打電話。
3. wipe out
摧毀；毀滅；使滅絕；
eg. The spill could wipe out the Gulf's turtle population.
這次原油泄漏可能會使波斯灣的海龜滅絕。
eg. The man is a fanatic who is determined to wipe out any opposition to the way he conducts himself.
這人是個狂熱分子，決意掃除任何反對其行事作風的聲音。