《中英對照讀新聞》Scientists solve mystery of milky rain in U.S. Pacific Northwest 科學家解開美國太平洋西北部牛奶雨之謎

◎國際新聞中心

Scientists have finally solved the mystery of a milky rain that coated cars and raised eyebrows across a wide swathe of the Pacific Northwest this February. A Washington State University team said they had determined that dust from the dry bed of a shallow lake some 480 miles （772 km） from where the rain fell was to blame for the unusual precipitation.

今年2月間，在太平洋西北廣大地區讓車輛覆蓋白白一層、讓人驚訝不已的牛奶雨之謎，終於被科學家解開。美國華盛頓州立大學的研究團隊說，他們判定這種不尋常的降雨，都是約772公里外一座淺湖乾涸湖底的沙所造成。

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The rain left a trail of powdery residue across a nearly 200-mile （322-km） stretch of eastern parts of Oregon and Washington state, leaving scientists and residents perplexed about its origins. Some scientists initially speculated that an erupting Japanese volcano was the source of the powdery white substance. Others blamed wildfires, and some thought that a Nevada dust storm was the cause.

那陣雨降在奧勒岡州與華盛頓州東部，將近322公里的地帶遍佈粉末，讓科學家與居民不解其來源。某些科學家起初推斷，這種粉末狀白色物質來自日本一座噴發的火山。有人怪罪野火，也有人認為內華達州的沙塵暴是原因。

All three theories were proven wrong. That led researchers to consider Oregon’s Summer Lake, which is shallow and often largely dries up during droughts. A storm with winds reaching 60 miles per hour（96.5 kph）struck Summer Lake the night before the milky rain.

結果證實上述3種理論都不正確。這讓研究人員開始考慮水不深、乾旱期大半乾涸的奧勒岡州夏湖。天降牛奶雨的前一晚，夏湖下了一場挾著每小時風速達96.5公里的暴風雨。

"That would have been powerful enough to lift a good-size dust plume," said Nic Loyd, a meteorologist at the university.

華盛頓州大氣象學家羅以德表示：「那種力量強大到足以捲起大片沙塵。」

新聞辭典

coat：動詞，覆蓋一層，塗上一層。例句：When the biscuits are cool, you coat them with melted chocolate.（餅乾放涼後，在上面塗上融化的巧克力。）

perplex：動詞，困惑。例句：The disease has continued to perplex doctors.（這種疾病仍讓醫生困惑不解。）

speculate：動詞，猜測。例句：Journalists are speculating about whether interest rates will be cut.（記者們猜測會不會降息。）