[by:英语听力网|http://yingyu.chazidian.com||查字典英语网] [00:00.00]喜欢chazidian.com，就把chazidian.com复制到QQ个人资料中！Lesson 37 The Westhaven Express [00:03.15]37 开往威斯特海温的快车 [00:06.30]Listen to the text and answer this question [00:11.57]听录音回答问题。 [00:16.85]What was the mistake the author made? [00:21.24]作者犯了什么错误? [00:25.63]We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual [00:28.85]我们已经习惯相信火车总是准点的 [00:32.08]After years of conditioning, [00:33.96]经过多年的适应, [00:35.84]most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables [00:39.17]大多数人对火车时刻表产生一种坚定的信念 [00:42.50]Ships may be delayed by storms; [00:44.56]轮船船期可能因风暴而推延, [00:46.63]flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; [00:48.90]飞机航班可能因恶劣天气而取消, [00:51.17]but trains must be on time. [00:53.21]唯有火车必然是准点的. [00:55.25]Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall [00:57.57]只有非同寻常的大雪 [00:59.90]might temporarily dislocate railway services. [01:02.54]才可能暂时打乱铁路运行. [01:05.18]It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities [01:07.60]人们便不假思索地责备铁路当局 [01:10.03]when something does go wrong. [01:12.02]一旦铁路上真出了问题, [01:14.00]The truth is that when mistakes occur, [01:16.19]事实上，问题的出错 [01:18.37]they are more likely to be ours than theirs. [01:20.89]更可能在于我们自己而非铁路当局 [01:23.41]After consulting my railway timetable, [01:25.59]我查看了列车时刻表, [01:27.77]I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven [01:31.15]满意地了解到有一趟去威斯特海温快车 [01:34.54]It went direct from my local station [01:36.72]这是趟直达车, [01:38.90]and the journey lasted a mere hour and seventeen minutes. [01:41.77]旅途总共才需1小时17分 [01:44.65]When I boarded the train, [01:46.53]上车后, [01:48.41]I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well [01:51.74]我不禁注意到许多当地人也上了车. [01:55.07]At the time,this did not strike me as odd. [01:57.41]一开始,我并不感到奇怪, [01:59.75]I reflected that there must be a great many people besides myself [02:02.63]我想除我之外,也一定有许多人 [02:05.52]who wished to take advantage of this excellent service. [02:08.14]想利用快车之便， [02:10.77]Neither was I surprised when the train stopped at Widley [02:13.66]火车在威德里停下来,我也不觉奇怪, [02:16.54]a tiny station a few miles along the line. [02:18.87]威德里是火车开出不久就到的一小站 [02:21.19]Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals [02:24.07]因为即便是特别快车也可能被信号拦住 [02:26.94]But when the train dawdled at station after station, [02:29.58]但是,当火车一站接一站往前蠕动时 [02:32.22]I began to wonder. [02:33.80]我便产生了怀疑. [02:35.38]It suddenly dawned on me [02:34.88]我突然感到 [02:34.38]that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour, [02:37.71]这趟快车并没以时速90英里的速度呼啸前进 [02:41.04]but barely chugging along at thirty. [02:43.41]而是卟哧卟哧地向前爬行,时速仅30英里 [02:45.79]One hour and seventeen minutes passed [02:47.87]1小时17分过去了 [02:49.95]and we had not even covered half the distance. [02:52.43]走了还不到一半路程. [02:54.91]I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, [02:57.64]我问一位乘客,这是不是开往威斯特海温的那趟 [03:00.37]but he had not even heard of it. [03:02.44]他说从未听说过有这么一趟快车. [03:04.52]I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived. [03:07.09]我决定一到目的地就给铁路部门提意见. [03:09.67]Two hours later,I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven [03:13.05]两小时后，我生气地同威斯特海温站站长说起此事 [03:16.43]When he denied the train's existence, [03:18.46]他说根本没有这趟车. [03:20.48]I borrowed his copy of the timetable. [03:22.66]于是我借了他本人的列车时刻表, [03:24.84]There was a note of triumph in my voice [03:27.03]我带着一种胜利者的调子 [03:29.21]when I told him that it was there in black and white [03:31.78]告诉他那趟车白纸黑字印在时刻表上. [03:34.35]Glancing at it briefly,he told me to look again. [03:37.08]他迅速地扫视了一眼,让我再看一遍. [03:39.81]A tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page