Notes:
altitude 標高
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Hi. My name is Charles Duncan. I am American living in China. I have been in Asia for quite a few years. I love it here. I lived in Okinawa for 17 years, then I moved to Kunming, China. The weather has been warmer than usual here this year. Most of the local people have been complaining about it, but a couple of us Americans like it. Kunming is at an altitude of 2000 meters and is very far from the sea. In Okinawa, one didn’t have to go very far to see the sea in the distance. In Japan not many people rode bicycles – the streets are too hilly. I ride my bike everyday here. It is my main form of transportation in this city. (by Charles Duncan)
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Notes:
the Met Office　気象庁;
all-time 空前の;
abnormally 異常に;
degrees Celsius 摂氏温度;
chills: 冷気
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In December 2009, the Met Office in the United Kingdom announced that the global average temperature could reach an all-time high in 2010, but have you been watching the weather around the world? Japan is cold. In fact, it’s snowing in many places of Japan today. The UK is getting unusually large amounts of snow, and the United States is really cold. For example, the first week of this year, some places in the US had temperatures of minus 32 degrees Celsius and wind chills of -47! That doesn’t really seem like the start of a year that will have high temperatures. On the other hand, Tada-sensei told me that the temperatures in Australia have been abnormally hot, like 47 degrees Celsius. So, maybe this year will be hot after all. (by Prof. Carmella Lieske)
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