[su_row]
[su_column size="1/2" center="yes" class=""]

In the spirit of the holiday season, which is winding to a blissfully overweight close, I give you an article about something you may or may not have just struggled through if you flew home for the holidays (which I did).<!--more-->

This is a wildly factual article about the congestion caused by the snow storms a week or so ago. Not a lot of excitement here, mostly a tallying up of what a big fat mess the American aviation system becomes during the annual Christmas hysteria. 

Lots and lots of proper nouns in here, including lots of U.S. states, some cities and even a couple of basketball team names. Probably the most fun you'll have reading this is trying to decipher the list of Chinese names for U.S. states (read the characters out loud quickly and see if you can guess - example: 弗吉尼亚州 fo ji ni ya = Virginia). You can always tell you're reading a U.S. state name because the character 州 appears at the tail end of each state. 
[/su_column]
[/su_row]

<div class="readingPassage">
[su_row]
[su_column size="1/2" center="no" class=""]
<div id="chinesetext">
<h4>暴风雪已致15人死 2000航班延误取消</h4>
圣诞节期间美国遭遇<strong>暴风</strong>雪袭击，已至少<strong>造成</strong>15人死亡，2000次美国航班延误或取消。

据报道，因暴雪<strong>严寒</strong>造成人员死亡的州包括肯塔基州、俄亥俄州、印第安纳州、阿肯色州、俄克拉何马州、得克萨斯州、路易斯安那州、宾夕法尼亚州和弗吉尼亚州。

很多地区发出<strong>警告</strong>提醒人们不要外出，因为<strong>凛冽</strong>狂风、低温和充满危险的路况对行人<strong>构成</strong><strong>威胁</strong>。<strong>气象部门</strong>说，位于美国东北部的新英格兰地区数州即将出现大雪天气，缅因州部分地区的降雪厚度达18英寸(约45厘米)。因此，很多人的圣诞节假期旅行计划受到影响。

目前，已有超过20万居民家中断电，<strong>成千上万</strong>出游的人们滞留在各处。nba<strong>推迟</strong>了原本于周三晚在印第安纳波利斯举行的印第安纳步行者对芝加哥公牛队的篮球赛。
</div>
[/su_column]
[su_column size="1/2" center="no" class=""]
[hide-this-part morelink="Show English translation"]
This Christmas season, America is suffering through a blizzard, which has already caused at least 15 deaths and the delay or cancellation of 2000 flights. 

According to reports, the snowstorm and bitter cold has caused deaths in states including Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Virginia. 

Many regions issued warnings reminding people not to go outside, because the biting cold, howling winds, low temperatures and dangerous traffic conditions compose a threat to pedestrians. The weather department said that severe snow will soon appear in America's northeastern New England area, with snowfall in Maine reaching 18 inches (about 45 centimeters). As a result, many people's Christmas travel plans will be effected.

Currently, 200,000 homes have already experienced electrical outages, and tens of thousands of travelers have been detained. [Also due to snow] in Indianapolis, the NBA postponed Wednesday night's Indiana Pacers vs. Chicago Bulls basketball game.  
[/hide-this-part]
[/su_column]
[/su_row]