January 4, 2010, 2:41 AM ET
Beijing Rings in the New Year with Extreme Weather
China’s capital got off to a slow start in the new year, with the first snowstorm of 2010 and seriously subfreezing temperatures bringing the city to a halt after the long holiday weekend.
A day after Beijing experienced its biggest snowfall in 60 years, a similarly historic cold front swept into the city. Temperatures were forecast to drop to as low as -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) Monday and schools remained closed, giving students an extra bit of winter holiday. Beijing has mobilized a sizable army of 300,000 workers to clear the snow, China Daily reports, though it appeared that few cars were willing to brave the city’s icy streets Monday.
Transportation in northern China faced disruptions as well, with road closures and airports shut down. At Hong Kong’s Chep Lap Kok airport Sunday, this reporter was among the thousands of Beijing-bound passengers waiting for bi-hourly updates on the grim situation at the capital’s airport, where only one of three runways was operational and more than 90% of flights were cancelled or delayed, according to China Daily.
The current conditions make the big storms of November seem like a dress rehearsal, and this time around, no one has mentioned government-sanctioned weather manipulation.
source: <a href='http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010 ... e-weather/' target='_blank'>http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010 ... eather/</a>
ring with: be filled with, 此处可理解为充满了……气氛、洋溢着……氛围、处于……之中
get off to a slow start: to start in a slow way
bring the city to a halt: make the city stop moving. 此处不按字面理解，应理解为严寒令北京城（交通）受阻，似人一般无法动弹
few cars were willing to brave the ciy streets: brave here means to challenge, to defy. 此处以拟人手法笑谈汽车亦不敢面对冰雪的街道，只有趴窝儿
dress rehearsal: 彩排，着装排演，将去年十一月期间发生的大雪比作一次彩排，则意味着此次京城大雪的严重。
本文关注一些动词谓语部分在描述中的使用，如sweep into, mobilize, brave, face disruptions, schools remained closed, airports shut down