Upper-Intermediate - Extreme Weather and Pollution (D1838)

A: 天啊,这是什么鬼天气?周一16度,周二19度,周三25度,周四7度,周五就直接降到零度了。还让不让人活啊!
tiān a, zhè shì shénme guǐ tiānqì? zhōuyī shíliù dù, zhōuèr shíjiǔ dù, zhōusān èrshíwǔ dù, zhōusì qī dù, zhōuwǔ jiù zhíjiē jiàng dào língdù le. hái ràng bùràng rén huó a!
My God, what kind of awful weather is this? It was 16 degrees on Monday, 19 on Tuesday, 25 on Wednesday, 7 on Thursday, and then dropped straight down to zero on Friday. How can we live like this?
B: 呵呵,难怪今天报纸上说,本周气温就像坐过山车,说得还挺形象的。
hēhē, nánguài jīntiān bàozhǐ shang shuō, běnzhōu qìwēn jiù xiàng zuò guòshānchē, shuō de hái tǐng xíngxiàng de.
Ha ha, no wonder today's paper compares this week's weather to riding a rollercoaster. That's a pretty vivid description.
A: 哎!忽冷忽热的,难受死了。我觉得今年从年初到年尾没几天是正常的,极端天气来得越来越频繁了。
āi! hūlěnghūrè de, nánshòu sǐ le. wǒ juéde jīnnián cóng nián chū dào niánwěi méijǐtiān shì zhèngcháng de, jíduān tiānqì lái de yuèláiyuè pínfán le.
Agh! These sudden temperature changes are unbearable. I feel like there haven't been more than a few normal days of weather the entire year. Extreme weather is becoming more and more common.
B: 不过跟北京的兄弟姐妹们一比,我们还算幸运了,顶多加衣服的速度快点儿。你看看北京,PM2.5监测数据都爆表了,属于极重度污染。
bùguò gēn Běijīng de xiōngdìjiěmèi men yī bǐ, wǒmen hái suàn xìngyùn le, dǐngduō jiā yīfu de sùdù kuài diǎnr. nǐ kàn kan Běijīng, PM èrdiǎnwǔ jiāncè shùjù dōu bàobiǎo le, shǔyú jí zhòngdù wūrǎn.
But we're still lucky compared to those living in Beijing; at worst, we just have to be quick about bundling up. Look at Beijing, though: their PM2.5 data is off the charts, classifying it as extremely severe pollution.
A: 我今天也看到这条新闻了。PM2.5到底是什么?我怎么以前从来都没听说过?
wǒ jīntiān yě kàndào zhè tiáo xīnwén le. PM èrdiǎnwǔ dàodǐ shì shénme? wǒ zěnme yǐqián cónglái dōu méi tīngshuō guo?
I saw that piece of news today too. What exactly is PM2.5? Why have I never heard of it before?
B: 叫什么可入肺颗粒物。是一种监测空气质量的术语。最近才受到关注。
jiào shénme kěrùfèi kēlìwù. shì yīzhǒng jiāncè kōngqì zhìliàng de shùyǔ. zuìjìn cái shòudào guānzhù.
It's called particulate matter or something. It's a technical term for measuring air quality and has been getting a lot of attention recently.
A: 哎,我们就是这样,往往要等到出了事才去关注。就拿环境污染来说,因为盲目发展经济而造成的环境污染,是十年二十年都恢复不了的。多少活生生的例子摆在眼前,就是不能吸取教训。
ài, wǒmen jiùshì zhèyàng, wǎngwǎng yào děngdào chū le shì cái qù guānzhù. jiù ná huánjìng wūrǎn láishuō, yīnwèi mángmù fāzhǎn jīngjì ér zàochéng de huánjìng wūrǎn, shì shí nián èrshí nián dōu huīfù bùliǎo de. duōshao huóshēngshēng de lìzi bǎi zài yǎnqián, jiùshì bùnéng xīqǔ jiàoxun.
Ugh, that's just the way we are. We always wait until something happens before we start paying any attention. Take pollution for example. Because of reckless economic expansion we've caused pollution that we won't be able to recover from in even 10 or 20 years. There are tons of real life examples right in front of our eyes, but we still don't learn from them.
B: 你看这图片,到处都是灰蒙蒙的。还有人出门十分钟,两鼻孔就灌满了灰尘。北京人的肺伤不起啊!
nǐ kàn zhè túpiàn, dàochù dōu shì huīméngméng de. hái yǒu rén chūmén shí fēnzhōng, liǎng bíkǒng jiù guàn mǎn le huīchén. Běijīng rén de fèi shāngbuqǐ a!
Take a look at this picture. Everything is gray. Some peoples' noses are clogged with dust just 10 minutes after leaving their houses. Beijing people's lungs really have it rough!
A: 不知道上海严不严重?你说,要不要买点防尘口罩和空气净化器,早点防备起来?
bù zhīdào Shànghǎi yán bu yánzhòng? nǐ shuō, yào buyào mǎi diǎnr fángchén kǒuzhào hé kōngqì jìnghuàqì, zǎodiǎn fángbèi qǐlai?
Do you know if Shanghai's situation is that serious? Do you think I should buy some dust masks and air purifiers as an early precaution?
B: 绝对有必要!赶紧买,要不然又要断货了。
juéduì yǒu bìyào! gǎnjǐn mǎi, yàoburán yòu yào duànhuò le.
Definitely! Buy some as soon as possible before they sell out.

Key Vocabulary

鬼天气 guǐ tiānqì bad weather
过山车 guòshānchē rollercoaster
忽冷忽热 hūlěnghūrè sudden temperature change
极端 jíduān extreme
频繁 pínfán frequent
顶多 dǐngduō at most
PM2.5 PM èrdiǎnwǔ PM2.5
监测 jiāncè to monitor
爆表 bàobiǎo ‘off the charts‘
极重度 jí zhòngdù extremely severe level
属于 shǔyú to belong to
可入肺颗粒物 kěrùfèi kēlìwù particulate matter
术语 shùyǔ technical term
活生生 huóshēngshēng real-life
灰蒙蒙 huīméngméng gray, smoggy
伤不起 shāngbuqǐ ‘to be unable to sustain further injury‘
防尘 fángchén dust-proof
空气净化器 kōngqì jìnghuàqì air purifier
防备 fángbèi to guard against
断货 duànhuò out of stock
盲目 mángmù reckless, indiscriminate
吸取 xīqǔ to absorb
教训 jiàoxun lesson
关注 guānzhù to pay attention to
恢复不了 huīfù bùliǎo to be unable to recover
摆在眼前 bǎi zài yǎnqián ‘placed right in front of one's eyes‘
guàn to pour

Supplementary Vocabulary

shēng to rise
反问句 fǎnwènjù rhetorical question
生动 shēngdòng lively, vivid
忽然 hūrán suddenly
频率 pínlǜ frequency
相比 xiāngbǐ to compare
大不了 dàbuliǎo at worst
监控 jiānkòng to inspect and control
测量 cèliáng to measure
fèi lung
导致 dǎozhì to bring about
预防 yùfáng to guard against

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