TIẾNG ANH ĐÀM THOẠI THEO CHỦ ĐỀ

Phần 14: Thời tiết

A -EXPRESSION ABOUT THE HEAT

Situation 1: Oh, my! The whole world is broiling.

In the dialogue below, Gary and Sharon are complaining about how hot the weather is today….

Gary:	Oh, my!  It’s really hot!  I’ve never seen such scorching weatherin my life!
Sharon:	Tell me about it.  It’s like the whole world is broiling.
Gary:	Oh, look at the thermometer!  The temperature has hit 98!
Sharon:	I hope it’s not gonna break into three digits!
Gary:	But it’s already awfully close!
Sharon:	Well, I just hope it’ll level off.
Gary:	I guess we can’t do anything until after dark then.
Sharon:	I guess so.  What else can we do?  You can’t stay in the heat for long!

Situation 2: You’ve got to drink a lot of fluids.

It’s such a hot day that the two people in the conversation below just want to stay at home and spare themselves the worst of the heat.

Winnie:	Oh, man!  Nobody can stand this kind of scorching heat.
Marc:	Tell me about it!  You can’t even stay in the sun for five minutes.
Winnie:	You’ll be scorched like a shrivelled plant.
Marc:	Or like a shrivelled old man!
Winnie:	I like your humor, Marc.  Anyway, I guess this afternoon there’s nothing we can do but stay home.
Marc:	I guess so.  I don’t want to be taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion or sunstroke or something.
Winnie:	You want my advice?  Drink a lot of liquids and spare yourself the worst of the heat!
Marc:	Yeah, you’re right.  Got to drink a lot of fluids.  Do we have any beer?
Winnie:	Yes!  Do you want Coors Light or Corona?
Marc:	Do you have any Bud or Michelobe?

Situation 3: Oh, the heat is unbearable!

It’s a very hot day.  The heat is so unbearable.  To make it worse, the air-conditioner is broken….

Chris:	Oh, the heat is unbearable!  Didn’t you turn on the air-conditioner?
Paul:	The heat has blown our air-conditioner on the roof!
Chris:	What the…!  So, what are we going to do?
Paul:	We’ve got to have it fixed as soon as possible.  I’ve called someone and they’re on the way.
Chris:	Thank God!
Paul:	Here you go.  You can use the electric fan here.  At least you can catch a breeze.

Situation 4: The water just goes off without a warning.

A cold front has just set in.  To make it worse, the water has just gone off without a warning….

Nancy:	What’s going on?  When you turn on the faucet, it’s just drip, drip, drip.
Sandra:	Well, it’s the second day in a row.  I guess the pipes are frozen again.
Nancy:	Really?
Sandra:	Yeah.  Yesterday the water even went off without a warning.  I couldn’t take a shower, nor could I wash the dishes.
Nancy:	Well, I’m wondering why the manager isn’t on top of this!

B- RAIN

Situation 1: It’s raining cats and dogs today.

Justine knew that there would be a shower today, but she didn’t realize it would rain so heavily….

Stephen:	Wow, you look like a drowned rat!  Didn’t you know there’s a thunderstorm today?
Justine:	I knew there would be a shower, but I didn’t realize it would rain cats and dogs today.
Stephen:	Well, you’d better take a hot shower right now, or you’ll catch a cold.
Justine:	I know.  I don’t want to get sick, especially during finals week.

C- DROUGHT

Situation 1: It hasn’t rained a drop for months.

A drought has just set in and the two people in the dialogue below are very concerned...

Sally:	I think a drought has set in.  It hasn’t rained a drop for months.
Ethan:	I think so, too, but didn’t it rain last month?
Sally:	It did rain last month, but the rainfall was only half the monthly average.
Ethan:	Oh.  That bad?!
Sally:	That’s right.  It’s really bad.  I’m really concerned though not panicked yet.
Ethan:	I don’t blame you.  The pastures have browned out even before the summer hasn’t arrived.
Sally:	Yeah, and the soil has been baked so hard that the plow can’t even break the soil.
Ethan:	Looks like it’s going to be an ongoing thing that would get worse each day.
Sally:	Yeah.  If it doesn’t rain, it’s going to get critical.

Situation 2: The drought conditions are severe!

[Radio broadcasting: …Temperatures have today reached a record 102 degrees and may well hit 110 tomorrow. Much more distressing, experts say, is that a drought has set in remarkably early and shows no sign of letting up soon….The ground is still parched from last year’s drought – crops, plants and trees are being crippled at their most vulnerable time…]

Anna:	Did you hear that?  The drought conditions are severe!  There’s a lot of death, dying, and suffering out there!
Rose:	I heard that, but it’s not surprising actually, ’cause we haven’t had as much rain as normal this year.
Anna:	Well, if it could rain even a drop, things would be much better!  And my flowers in the garden would come back in a heartbeat.
Rose:	I guess you might have to quit watering your garden.  I heard that they are going to start rationing water.  In fact, this morning I happened to hear on the radio that the reservoir had dipped below half its capacity this month and the volume of water entering the reservoir is the smallest in fifty years.
Anna:	Really!  I thought that might happen.  Great!  There go my vegetables!
Rose:	I guess so.  But think about Africa.