The weather – and the British obsession with talking about it – has been puzzling outsiders for decades. 英国人痴迷于谈论天气,这个问题数十年来一直让外界人士困惑不已。 Several features of Britain's geography make the weather the way it is: mild, changeable, and famously uNPRedictable. Britain's position at the edge of the Atlantic places it at the end of a storm track – relatively narrow zones over oceans that storms travel down, driven by the prevailing winds. 英国地理的特点造就了英国天气的现状:温和多变,众人皆知其难以预料。英国位于大西洋边缘,处于风暴轴的末端。所谓“风暴轴”,即海洋上暴风经过的相对狭长的地带。 As the warm and cold air fly towards and over each other, the earth's rotation creates cyclones. Then there is the Gulf Stream, which makes the British climate milder than it should be, given its northern latitude, and the fact that the UK is made up of islands, meaning there is a lot of moisture in the air. 冷热气流相互对冲,地球旋转引起旋风。英国地处北纬、由岛屿构成,在墨西哥湾流影响之下空气中有许多水分,英国气候因而更温和了。 Many of the day-to-day conversations British people initiate about the weather, however, are mundane. Comments like “cold, isn't it?” don't even particularly demand a full response; a grunt of agreement will suffice. |