Spotlight﹕Typhoons and hurricanes

[2017.09.20] 發表

【明報專訊】Hong Kong was hit by a number of typhoons this summer while Texas (得州) in the US suffered heavy casualties under Hurricane Harvey. What are the differences between a typhoon (颱風) and a hurricane (颶風)?

Typhoons and hurricanes happen when warm air mixes with cold air, creating intense winds, rain and flooding. Typhoons and hurricanes are the same type of storm, but they happen in different places. Cyclones that form over the ocean in the tropical regions are generically called "tropical cyclones" (「熱帶氣旋」). They are known as "typhoons" in the western North Pacific and "hurricanes" in the North Atlantic.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (世界氣象組織), tropical cyclones are classified by the maximum sustained wind speed near the centre. The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) further categorizes typhoons into "Typhoon", "Severe Typhoon" and "Super Typhoon" under a classification scheme that came into force in 2009.

(Source: Hong Kong Observatory)

■English highway﹕"Classify" & "categorize"

"Classify" and "categorize" have similar meanings. They both mean putting people or things into groups according to the type of person or thing.

e.g. These restaurants are categorized according to the standard of food and services they offer.

e.g. How should we classify this novel, sci-fic or horror?

■Game １

The Smarties were listening to the news report about the latest condition of typhoon. Fill in the blanks with the correct words. You may need to change the form of the words.

limit / issue / flight / suspend

"The Observatory (1)______ Storm Signal Number 8 at 5.10am on Sunday as Severe Tropical Storm Pakhar (帕卡) headed for the coast of Guangdong. The Education Bureau says classes of all day schools are (2)____. The MTR is providing (3)____ rail and bus services. Many (4)____ in and out of Hong Kong have been delayed or cancelled."

(Answers on next text)

■Game ２

Eason has hidden the sandbags prepared by the Smarties for flooding. Circle all the sandbags in this page and count them.

■Glossary

casualty (n) 傷亡

intense (adj) 強烈的

generically (adv) 一般地；作為通稱

sustained (adj) 持續的

[Smarties' Power English 第190期]