Lesson 37
The Westhaven Express
开往威斯特海温的快车
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1Lesson 37
2The Westhaven Express
3What was the mistake the author made?
4We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual.
5After years of conditioning,
6most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables.
7Ships may be delayed by storms;
8flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; but trains must be on time.
9Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall might temporarily dislocate railway services.
10It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong.
11The truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs.
12After consulting my railway timetable,
13I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven.
14It went direct from my local station and the journey lasted a mere hour and seventeen minutes.
15When I boarded the train,
16I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well.
17At the time, this did not strike me as odd.
18I reflected that there must be a great many people besides myself
19who wished to take advantage of this excellent service.
20Neither was I surprised when the train stopped at Widley,
21a tiny station a few miles along the line.
22Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals.
23But when the train dawdled at station after station, I began to wonder.
24It suddenly dawned on me that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour,
25but barely chugging along at thirty.
26One hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance.
27I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, but he had not even heard of it.
28I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived.
29Two hours later, I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven.
30When he denied the train's existence, I borrowed his copy of the timetable.
31There was a note of triumph in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white.
32Glancing at it briefly, he told me to look again.
33A tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page.
34It said: 'This service has been suspended.'
1Listen to the tape then answer the question below. 2听录音，然后回答以下问题。 3What was the mistake the author made? 4 We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual. After years of conditioning, most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables. Ships may be delayed by storms; flights may be cancelled because of bad weather, but trains must be on time. Only an exceptionally heavy snowfall might temporarily dislocate railway services. It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong. The truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs. 5 After consulting my railway timetable, I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven. It went direct from my local station and the journey lasted mere hour and seventeen minutes. When I boarded the train, I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well. At the time, this did not strike me as odd. I reflected that there must be a great many local people besides myself who wished to take advantage of this excellent service. Neither was I surprise when the train stopped at Widley, a tiny station a few miles along the line. Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals. But when the train dawdled at station after station, I began to wonder, It suddenly dawned on me that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour, but barely chugging along at thirty. One hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance. I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, but he had not even heard of it. I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived. Two hours later, I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven. When he denied the train's existence, I borrowed his copy of the timetable. There was a note of triumph in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white. Glancing at it briefly, he told me to look again. A tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page. It said: 'This service has been suspended.' 6New words and expressions 生词和短语 7 express 8n. 快车； 9adj. 高速的 10 punctual 11adj. 准时的 12 condition 13v. 使习惯于 14 unshakable 15adj. 不可动摇的 16faith 17n. 信任 18 cancel 19v. 取消 20 exceptionally 21adv. 例外地 22 dislocate 23v. 打乱（计划等） 24 blame 25v. 责怪 26 consult 27v. 请教，查阅 28 direct 29adv. 径直地 30 odd 31adj. 奇怪的，异常的 32 reflect 33v. 细想 34 advantage 35n. 优势 36 mighty 37adj. 强大的，有力的 38 dawdle 39v. 慢吞吞地动或做 40 chug 41v. 咔嚓咔嚓地响 42 lodge 43v. 提出 44 complaint 45n. 抱怨 46 triumph 47n. 胜利 48 asterisk 49n. 星号（*） 50 conduct 51v. 引向，引导 52参考译文 53 我们已经习惯于相信火车总是准点的。经过多年的适应，大多数人对火车时刻表产生了一种不可动摇的信念。轮船船期可能因风暴而推延，飞机航班可能因恶劣天气而取消，唯有火车必然是准点的。只有非同寻常的大雪才可能暂时打乱铁路运行。因此，一旦铁路上真出了问题，人们便不加思索地责备铁路当局。事实上，差错很可能是我们自己，而不是铁路当局的。 54 我查看了列车时刻表，满意地了解到有一趟去威斯特海温的快车。这是趟直达车，旅途总共才需1小时17分钟。上车后，我不禁注意到许多当地人也上了车。一开始，我并不感到奇怪，我想除我之外，想利用快车之便的也一定大有人在。火车开出几英里即在一个小站威德里停了下来。对此，我不觉得奇怪，因为即便是特别快车也可能被信号拦住。但是，当火车一站接着一站往前蠕动时，我便产生了怀疑。我突然感到这趟快车并没以时速90英里的速度呼啸前进，而是卟哧卟哧地向前爬行，时速仅30英里。1小时17分过去了，走了还不到一半路程。我问一位乘客，这是不是开往威斯特海温的那趟快车，他说从未听说过有这么一趟快车。我决定到目的地就给铁路部门提意见。两小时后，我气呼呼地同威斯特海温站站长说起此事。他说根本没有这趟车。于是我借他本人的列车时刻表，我带着一种胜利者的调子告诉他那趟车白纸黑字。明明白白印在时刻表上。他迅速地扫视了一眼，让我再看一遍。一个小小的星形符号把我的目光引到了那页底部一个说明上。上面写着："此趟列车暂停运行。"