Britons spend six months of their lives discussing weather 英國人花費6個月的生命討論天氣

 ◎ 張沛元
Famously weather-obsessed British people spend on average six months of their lives talking about whether it’s going to rain or shine, according to a survey published Friday.
根據週五公佈的一項調查，沉迷於天氣出了名的英國人，平均花費6個月的生命討論老天爺究竟是要下雨還是放晴。
Speculation about whether it’s going to be wet, complaints about the cold and exclamations about the heat are also the first points of conversation with strangers or business acquaintances for 58 percent of Britons, it said.
該調查說，推測天氣是不是會變濕，抱怨天冷，以及驚嘆天熱，也是58%的英國人跟陌生人或工作上的點頭之交交談時的頭號話題。
Nineteen percent of over 65s questioned also believe they can predict the weather as well as a professional weatherman.
19%的65歲以上的受訪者還相信，他們預 測天氣的能力，不亞於專業氣象人員。
The most usual explanation for the fascination with weather is that it is so changeable here -- although this does not explain why other meteorologically-challenged countries are not similarly interested.
（英國人）沉迷於天氣的最常見解釋，就是英國的天氣變化多端──儘管此說無法解釋為何其他天氣 多變的國家（的民眾）不像英國人對天氣感興趣。
Whatever the reason, "these findings prove that we really are a nation obsessed by our climate," said Paul Llewellyn of Lloyds TSB Insurance, which commissioned the poll.
無論 是什麼理由，委託進行這項調查的駿懋保險公司的保羅．呂艾林說，「這些發現證明我們（英國人）真的是一個很沉迷於氣候的國家。」