近几周,北半球各地气温骤降(plummet),处处都是冰天雪地的景象。不同的文化背景也造就了世界各地人们那五花八门的御寒习惯。尽管严寒打乱了平静的生活,但人们仍能苦中寻乐——美食,美酒,户外运动样样精彩。看来人们已经开始恋上冬天。
近几周,北半球各地气温骤降;到处都是冰天雪地的景象,也使得人们不得不加倍小心。但严寒也为人们提供了享受严寒乐趣的机会。
Temperatures have plummeted across the northern hemisphere in recent weeks, and icy conditions, everywhere have forced people to take extra care. But they've also provided some chances for cold-weather fun.
由于不同的地理位置渗透出各异的流行文化,所以当严寒到来时,世界各地人在吃喝穿玩方面的习惯也是五花八门。
And since cultural trends often spill across geographical borders, there's a rich mix of things that people eat, drink, wear and do around the globe when the mercury falls.
Russians are renowned for enjoying vodka to stave off the winter chill, but “It's a mistake to think alcohol helps when it's cold,” Gennady Onishenko, Russia's chief sanitary inspector, tells the UK Times. “It damages you and gives a feeling of false warmth.”
A non-alcoholic alternative is Sbiten, or hot mead: a drink made with honey, spices, jam and water, though the water can be replaced by wine.
Hot chocolate is a popular daytime warmer. “Berliners are nesting. Hot chocolate outlets are booming,” wrote Roger Boyes in the UK Times last Thursday. Hot chocolate is also a winter drink of choice in the States, and New York is brimming with great spots for the molten brew.
A good meal helps get anyone through a cold snap. Slow cooked meat and vegetable dishes are popular, taking the form of casserole or stew in the US, a ragout in France, or a goulash, the traditional stew of Hungary, in Eastern Europe. In the UK, nothing goes down quite as well as a bag of takeaway fish and chips on a frozen night.
Meat is a key ingredient and in the coldest climes, like Siberia, where temperatures reach -30 C or below, people live on reindeer and horsemeat. Siberian mothers rub a cream made from badger fat on their children's faces to keep their skin from getting chapped.
In Siberia, animals are also used for clothing. Ushanka hats, made from fur, with earflaps, are worn throughout Russia. The name derives from the Russian word for “ears”. Valenki boots, made of wool, have kept Russians' feet warm since medieval times. “Valenki are making a stylish comeback in Russia's capital, with Moscow's young and fashionable wearing them out in the city's cafes and nightclubs,” The New York Times reported last week.
Staying fashionable means ignoring the frost, for some youngsters. In Northern England, girls wear miniskirts when they go out to bars in the biting cold and drink strong alcohol so they don't feel the chill.
A report in Sina.com earlier this year marveled at young Japanese girl's resistance to the cold: “In Hokkaido's blizzard, in freezing temperatures over 10 C below zero, hot girls walk the streets still wearing revealing short skirts and hot pants, without stockings.”
However, when it gets too cold, most ditch fashion for warmth. According to BBC reporter Matthew Price, even style-conscious New Yorkers pull on puff jackets and everyone, including the men, don ear-muffs.
In Alaska and the great lakes region of north America winter activities include ice fishing, hunting, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
The chill also offers challenges. Ice swimming, for example, seems to be one with global appeal. A hole is cut in the ice to expose enough water for adrenaline junkies to dive into.更多信息请访问:http://www.24en.com/
It's true that severe cold can throw plans and schedules into disarray, but around the world we've figured out various winter delights that make a deep freeze seem–well, almost welcome.
abound in 富于,盛产
brimming with 充满着,洋溢着
badger 獾
casserole 蒸锅
chap 皲裂
cold snap 寒流
disarray 混乱
ditch 抛弃
goulash 菜炖牛肉
hemisphere 半球
hockey 曲棍球
inspector 检察员
mead 蜂蜜酒
medieval 中世纪的
mercury 温度表
molten 熔铸的
mulled 烫热的
pastime 消遣,娱乐
plummet 骤降
plunge 跳进,投入
ragout 法式杂烩
sanitary 有关卫生的
stew 炖菜
stave off 阻挡,延缓







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