壹蘋派生活美語　一窺颱風及颶風的命名由來

　　Have you wondered why typhoons or hurricanes are given people’s names? In the beginning, tropical storms were usually named according to the time when they occurred or the locations where they struck. It wasn’t until the 1890s that Clement Wragge, an Australian meteorologist, started naming storms with people’s names. This practice expanded during World War II. At that time, meteorologists found it much easier to simply name storms by using people’s names instead of their latitude and longitude. Names were also easier to send over the radio, especially when more than one storm was in the same area.

　　你是否好奇過為什麼颱風或颶風要以人名命名？最初，熱帶風暴通常根據其發生時間或襲擊地點來命名。直到 1890 年代，澳洲氣象學家克萊門特．雷格才開始用人名來命名風暴。這種做法在第二次世界大戰期間被更廣泛地採用。當時，氣象學家發現簡單地用人名來命名風暴比用經緯度要容易得多。透過無線電發送名字也更容易，尤其是當同一地區有不止一場風暴時。

生活必備字詞：

tropical　a. 熱帶的

location　n. 地點

instead of...　　而不是……

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本文節錄自《常春藤生活英語》雜誌，完整內容請見九月號。