英國天氣

The Great British Mystery: Why cant we cope with bad weather?

（試譯：神秘的大不列顛：為什麼我們不能預報天氣？）

Roads and railways came to a complete standstill last week in the UK after snow and high winds hit much of the country. But why do we struggle to cope with the effects of bad weather?

（大風雪到來時，公路和鐵路就被封了。但是為什麼我們不能有天氣預報？）

Year after year "extreme" weather is blamed for severe delays and cancellations on our transport system; schools are closed and people are told to take days off work. This has become one of the great mysteries of British life: why cant we cope? The average Canadian or Norwegian would hardly blink at weather conditions 10 times worse than ours. Why is a country known for its cold weather so unprepared for snow? If other cold countries can carry on as usual through extreme blizzards（暴風雪）, why cant we?

The problem is not that we get too much severe weather, but we dont get enough. When it does come, its very quick and unexpected. In countries like Canada it sits on the ground for months and because they know its coming, the same procedures（規程，程序） go into place every year.

（試譯：每年的暴風雪造成交通癱瘓，學校停課，工廠歇業。那麼為什麼我們不能有天氣預報，相比之下，加拿大，挪威的暴雪程度幾乎是我國的十幾倍，但是他們總能準確地預測暴風雪的到來，我們大英帝國腫么了？問題在於我國沒有太多的極端天氣。不像加拿大的哪些國家，每年那個點就有暴風雪了。而且大雪幾個月都不消融。）

The reality is that investing in the infrastructure（基礎設施） and equipment to make it easier to cope with snow would be extremely expensive for the UK, considering how little snow we actually get. Because snow is relatively rare for the UK, it is possible that much of the chaos arises from not being well-practised in driving or walking in slippery（光滑的） conditions – and no amount of（再...也不...） spending is going to cure that.

（&現實一點&英國的現實是預測天氣的設備花費高昂，而且英國也沒有太大的雪，下雪天的不好就是，司機根本不知道何時下雪，因此路滑，可能會造成危險-再好的葯也不能治好這種病啊）

Add to this that the British are a stubborn lot. We are told to stay at home; take the day off work or school. But we ignore it, pile onto the roads and trains and thats when the problems start.

除此之外，英國佬很固執（&不到黃河心不死，歡迎到中國的黃河來&），告訴要呆在家裡，不要去上班，不要去上課，結果非是不聽，湧向路面，這樣問題就來了。

▍What we have learned today

1. The British press, for the last two weeks, has been full of stories about the cold weather.

（&前兩周，英國報道說：英國一直處於極寒天氣。&）

2. In the UK, we cannot cope with snow. When snow comes, the country comes to a complete standstill.

（&在英國，只要有雪，就飛起吧，不用上學，不用上班&）

3. London is not foggy. The UK gets some fog, but the UK gets ALL types of weather, all the time.

（&除了倫敦沒霧，英國其他城市，各種天氣都佔全了&）

4. Our weather is unique because it changes so much. And this is because of our special geographic location.

（&英國特殊的地理位置決定了其多變的天氣&）

5. The British DO like to talk about the weather, but usually just to start a conversation.

（&英國佬搭訕時，常常談論天氣&）