[al:新概念英语（三）] [ar:MP3 同步字幕版（英音）] [ti:The Westhaven Express] [by:更多学习内容，请到yingyu.chazidian.com搜索“新概念”] [00:01.45]Lesson 37 [00:03.66]The Westhaven Express [00:12.78]What was the mistake the author made? [00:17.93]We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual. [00:22.20]After years of conditioning, [00:24.44]most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables. [00:30.12]Ships may be delayed by storms; [00:33.08]flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; but trains must be on time. [00:39.02]Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall might temporarily dislocate railway services. [00:45.40]It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong. [00:50.81]The truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs. [00:57.71]After consulting my railway timetable, [01:00.68]I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven. [01:06.30]It went direct from my local station and the journey lasted a mere hour and seventeen minutes. [01:13.14]When I boarded the train, [01:15.11]I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well. [01:20.37]At the time, this did not strike me as odd. [01:23.57]I reflected that there must be a great many people besides myself [01:27.91]who wished to take advantage of this excellent service. [01:31.98]Neither was I surprised when the train stopped at Widley, [01:35.92]a tiny station a few miles along the line. [01:39.72]Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals. [01:44.21]But when the train dawdled at station after station, I began to wonder. [01:49.76]It suddenly dawned on me that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour, [01:56.74]but barely chugging along at thirty. [02:00.22]One hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance. [02:06.29]I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, but he had not even heard of it. [02:13.53]I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived. [02:17.59]Two hours later, I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven. [02:23.11]When he denied the train's existence, I borrowed his copy of the timetable. [02:28.41]There was a note of triumph in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white. [02:34.93]Glancing at it briefly, he told me to look again. [02:39.12]A tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page. [02:44.23]It said: 'This service has been suspended.'