听播客学英语 280 下雪

（单词翻译）

 　　Today it is snowing. This is unusual. In England nowadays, it does not snow as often as it used to. Where I live, we get only one or two light falls of snow every winter. And when there is even a moderate fall of snow, there is chaos¹ on the roads and railways. Two years ago, here in Birmingham, two centimeters of snow was enough to bring the city to a standstill. The next day all the schools in the city were closed, and the children played outside and built snowmen and threw snowballs. Today, I imagine children in school are looking anxiously out of the window, hoping that there will be so much snow that tomorrow they will not have to go to school. I am afraid they will be disappointed. The snow is already turning to sleet², and melting on the ground. Tomorrow will not be crisp and clear with snow on the ground, it will be just another cold wet English winter’s day. Nonetheless, I will read you a short poem about the snow by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.