In January, 2003, the eastern two-thirds of the United States was at the mercy of1 a bitterly cold air mass2 that has endangered Florida’s citrus trees, choked3 northern harbors with ice and left bewildered residents of North Carolina’s Outer Banks digging out of up to a foot of snow4.

The ice chill deepened as temperatures fell to the single digits5 in most of the South, with an unfamiliar dip below the freezing mark6 as far south as parts of interior South Florida. Temperatures in Florida plunged, with West Palm Beach dropping to a record low of 2 degrees7.

“We couldn’t believe how cold it was,” said Martin King, who arrived this week in Orlando8 from England. “We brought shorts, T-shirt, and I had to go out and buy another cont.”

The temperature plunge posed a threat9 to Florida’s US $9.1 billion-a-year citrus crop, more of which is still on the trees. Growers were hurrying to harvest as much of the fruit as possible before it was damaged by cold.

“Time is of the essence10 in getting fruit to the plant,” said Tom Rogers, a citrus grower who expected to see damage to oranges and grapefruit at that time.

In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush signed an emergency order to eliminate the weight limit on trucks so citrus growers could get as much fruit to market as possible.

Casey Pace, a spokeswoman for Florida Citrus Mutual, said growers had sprayed trees with sprinklers, which created a layer of ice and helped maintain a temperature near freezing. Citrus trees are considered in danger of damage if the temperature drops below minus 2 degrees Celsius for four hours or more. Snow ranging from a dusting to up to 30 contimeters11 blanketed12 the Carolinas, Tennessee and parts of Virginia.

詞匯: citrus /5sItrEs/n.檸檬，柑橘，柑橘屬果樹 sprinkler /5spriNklE/ n.灑水器，灑水車

spokeswoman /5spEuks7wumEn/n.女發(fā)言人 Celsius /5selsjEs/ adj.攝氏的

bewilder /bi5wildE/v.使迷惑；使為難；把……弄湖涂 shorts /FC:ts/n.寬松運(yùn)動(dòng)褲，男用短襯褲

注釋:

1. at the mercy of：意為 “without any protection against；helpless before”(任由……擺布；在……面前無(wú)助 )。如：

They were drifting in an open boat, at the mercy of the storm. 他們?cè)谝怀ㄅ翊�中漂泊，任由暴風(fēng)雨擺布。

2. air mass：大氣團(tuán)

3. choked：意為“to become blocked up or obstructed”(被堵塞或阻礙 )。

4. left bewildered residents of North Carolina’s Outer Banks digging out of up to a foot of snow: (冷空氣團(tuán) )讓北卡羅來(lái)納州沿岸地區(qū)的居民不知所措，不停地鏟著尺把深的積雪。 leave:意為“ cause or allow to be or remain in a specified state”(使處于某一特定狀態(tài) )。up to: (數(shù)目)到……之多，如 : up to 100 men可這一百人

5. as temperatures fell to the single digits：當(dāng)氣溫下降到個(gè)位數(shù)

6. an unfamiliar dip below the freezing mark: (氣溫)前所未有地驟降至冰點(diǎn)以下。 dip：意為“to drop suddenly”(驟降)：freezing mark：意為“freezing point”(冰點(diǎn)，凝凍點(diǎn) )。

7. dropping to a record low of 2 degrees：創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄地降至 2度之低。 record:在此作形容詞用，意為“創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的”。

8. Orlando：奧蘭多，美國(guó)佛羅里達(dá)州 ( Florida)中部城市，由于靠近迪斯尼世界而使得該城市成為一個(gè)旅游名城。

9. posed a threat：造成威脅。 pose：“造成，形成（問(wèn)題 )”。如： to esipo an obstacle to (成為……障礙 )。

10. of the essence：非常重要的

11. Snow ranging from a dusting to up to 30 centimeters：厚度從薄薄的一層到 30厘米的雪。 range from … to:在……范圍內(nèi)變化；從……到……范圍，如： ages that range from two to fiver(兩歲至五歲年齡段 )。dusting：少量的、撒于某物表面的東西，如 : Sidewalks were covered with a dusting of new snow.人行道上覆蓋著一層薄薄的新雪。

12. blanket(ed):在此作動(dòng)詞用，意思是“ to cover as if with a blanket”，如：Levaes blanketed the ground.葉子覆蓋了地面。練習(xí):

1. Which of the following statements is not meant in the first two paragraphs? A The cold air mass was a threat to Florida’s citrus crop. B The temperature in the United States except the South dropped below the freezing mark. C The northern harbors were blocked with ice. D The eastern two thirds of the United States was hit by cold air mass.

2. According to the second paragraph, in which area(s) did the temperature fall below zero? A Most of the South. B Parts of interior South Florida. C West Palm Beach. D All of the above.

3. King’s statement that “We brought shorts, T-shirt, and I had to go out and buy another coat.” shows thut A he was caught by the sudden cold. B he needed formal clothes. C fashion in Florida is tempting. D Florida is hot compared with England.

4. Governor Jeb issue the emergency order because he A thought speed limit for trucks was unreasonable.

B tried to improve the traffic condition of the express ways.

C wanted to encourage trucks to transport as much fruit to market as possible.

D wanted to stop trucks from carrying too much fruit to market.

5. Which statement is NOT true according to the last paragraph? A Sprinklers were used to protect citrus trees from heing damaged. B Citrus trees would be damaged if the temperature drops below minus 2℃ for four hours. C The Carolinas, Tennessee and parts of Virginia were covered with snow. D Florida Citrus Mutual sprayed trees with sprinklers for citrus growers.

答案與解釋：

1. A 第二段中就有冷氣團(tuán)侵襲到 most of the South，所以，B是不符合原意的。

2. B … with an unfamiliar dip below the freezing mark as far south as parts of interior South Florida.在南至南佛羅里達(dá)州腹地的一些區(qū)域，氣溫前所未有地降至冰點(diǎn)以下這句話說(shuō)明 B是正確選項(xiàng)。在 most of the South,氣溫降至 10℃以下，在 West Palm Bench，氣溫雖然降至歷史昀低，但有 2℃。

3. A 佛羅里達(dá)位于炎熱的南方。 King只帶了短褲、 T恤。到了佛羅里達(dá)，寒潮來(lái)了，他只好去買御寒衣服。

4. C 第六段中“ Jeb Bush signed an emergency order to eliminate the weight limit on trucks so citrus growers could get as much fruit to market as possible.”這個(gè)句子提供了答案。

5. D 選項(xiàng) A、B、C文章中都提到，而且， A、B、C的內(nèi)容都符合原意，唯有 D不正確。因?yàn)�，文章中只是說(shuō) Florida Citrus Mutual (佛羅里達(dá)柑橘互助協(xié)會(huì) )通報(bào)了柑橘種植人采取的防凍措施，并沒(méi)有說(shuō)這個(gè)協(xié)會(huì)自己采取了防凍措施。