核心畫面

Picture a wide flat plain as a giant bowl with nothing in it but dry powdery soil. No rain comes for years, the wind arrives, and the whole surface lifts and travels.

可以想成一片又寬又平的原野就像一個大碗,碗裡裝的全是乾得像粉的土。好幾年不下雨,風一來,整個表面就浮起來、飄走。這個更多收起可以想成一片又寬又平的原野就像一個大碗,碗裡裝的全是乾得像粉的土。好幾年不下雨,風一來,整個表面就浮起來、飄走。這個字的重點不只是「乾」,而是「土會跑掉」——土一走,這塊地就種不出東西了。從這張圖出發,它可以指世界上任何一片這樣的地,也可以當成一個專有名字,指美國 1930 年代那一大片真的發生過這件事的農地。

Two branches

任何一片吹成塵土的土地

核心畫面的一般用法,可以套在任何地方。

noun · C1

An area of land where the soil has dried into dust, so that the wind lifts it into dust storms and very little rain falls for long periods.

乾旱沙塵地帶

美國那一片、那一段

同一張圖被拿來當專有名字:不是「像這樣的一片地」,而是「就是那一片地」。

noun · C1

The Dust Bowl: the part of the south-central United States, including parts of Kansas and Oklahoma, where in the 1930s strong winds and years without rain blew the topsoil away and farming failed. The name also covers those years themselves.

(美國)沙塵暴災區/沙塵暴年代