【課文】
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; air flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; but trains must be on time. Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall 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.
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 a 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 people besides myself who wished to take advantage of this excellent service. Neither was I surprised 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.'
【課文翻譯】
我們已經(jīng)習(xí)慣于相信火車(chē)總是準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)的。經(jīng)過(guò)多年的適應(yīng)，大多數(shù)人對(duì)火車(chē)時(shí)刻表產(chǎn)生了一種不可動(dòng)搖的信念。輪船船期可能因風(fēng)暴而推延，飛機(jī)航班可能因惡劣天氣而取消，唯有火車(chē)必然是準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)的。只有非同尋常的大雪才可能暫時(shí)打亂鐵路運(yùn)行。因此，一旦鐵路上真出了問(wèn)題，人們便不加思索地責(zé)備鐵路*。事實(shí)上，差錯(cuò)很可能是我們自己，而不是鐵路*的。
我查看了列車(chē)時(shí)刻表，滿意地了解到有一趟去威斯特海溫的快車(chē)。這是趟直達(dá)車(chē)，旅途總共才需1小時(shí)17分鐘。上車(chē)后，我不禁注意到許多當(dāng)?shù)厝艘采狭塑?chē)。一開(kāi)始，我并不感到奇怪，我想除我之外，想利用快車(chē)之便的也一定大有人在?；疖?chē)開(kāi)出幾英里即在一個(gè)小站威德里停了下來(lái)。對(duì)此，我不覺(jué)得奇怪，因?yàn)榧幢闶翘貏e快車(chē)也可能被信號(hào)攔住。但是，當(dāng)火車(chē)一站接著一站往前蠕動(dòng)時(shí)，我便產(chǎn)生了懷疑。我突然感到這趟快車(chē)并沒(méi)以時(shí)速90英里的速度呼嘯前進(jìn)，而是卟哧卟哧地向前爬行，時(shí)速僅30英里。1小時(shí)17分過(guò)去了，走了還不到一半路程。我問(wèn)一位乘客，這是不是開(kāi)往威斯特海溫的那趟快車(chē)，他說(shuō)從未聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)有這么一趟快車(chē)。我決定到目的地就給鐵路部門(mén)提意見(jiàn)。兩小時(shí)后，我氣呼呼地同威斯特海溫站站長(zhǎng)說(shuō)起此事。他說(shuō)根本沒(méi)有這趟車(chē)。于是我借他本人的列車(chē)時(shí)刻表，我?guī)е环N勝利者的調(diào)子告訴他那趟車(chē)白紙黑字。明明白白印在時(shí)刻表上。他迅速地掃視了一眼，讓我再看一遍。一個(gè)小小的星形符號(hào)把我的目光引到了那頁(yè)底部一個(gè)說(shuō)明上。上面寫(xiě)著：“此趟列車(chē)暫停運(yùn)行。”
【詞匯】
express n. 快車(chē);adj. 迅速的
punctual adj. 準(zhǔn)時(shí)的
condition v. 使習(xí)慣于
unshakable adj. 不可動(dòng)搖的
faith n. 信任
cancel v. 取消
exceptionally adv. 例外地
dislocate v. 打亂(計(jì)劃等)
blame v. 責(zé)怪
consult v. 請(qǐng)教，查閱
direct adv. 徑直地
odd adj. 奇怪的，異常的
reflect v. 細(xì)想
advantage n. 優(yōu)勢(shì)
mighty adj. 強(qiáng)大的，有力的
dawdle v. 慢吞吞的動(dòng)或做
chug v. 咔嚓咔嚓地響
lodge v. 提出
complaint n. 抱怨
triumph n. 勝利
asterisk n. 星號(hào)
conduct v. 引向，引導(dǎo)
【重點(diǎn)詞匯講解】
【condition】
英英：establish a conditioned response
例句：
For example in very hot rallies like Cyprus and Greece the drivers and the team trainer would go there one week before the rally to condition themselves to the heat.
比如像塞浦路斯或者希臘，車(chē)手和車(chē)隊(duì)的教練通常都提前一周就到那里，以使自己的身體適應(yīng)這種熱的天氣。
【unshakable】
構(gòu)詞：shake→shakable→unshakable
例句：
1. These virtues give me an unshakable faith in America.
這些優(yōu)點(diǎn)讓我對(duì)美國(guó)懷著不可動(dòng)搖的信念。
2. Attributions can often be hypotheses rather than unshakable facts.
作品的歸屬通常是一種假定，而非不可動(dòng)搖的事實(shí)。
【faith】
例句：
1. He has reaffirmed his faith in democracy.
他再次重申了自己的民主信仰。
2. But courage and religious faith alone are not enough to win battles.
但是單憑勇氣和宗教信仰要打勝仗還是不夠的。
【exceptionally】
例句：
1. Exceptionally, I went to school on Sunday.
我例外地利星期日到學(xué)校去。
2. The turkey dinner was exceptionally good, too.
火雞大餐也特別棒。
【dislocate】
英英：put out of its usual place, position, or relationship
例句：
1. If one is to rule, and to continue ruling, one must be able to dislocate the sense of reality.
你要統(tǒng)治，而且要繼續(xù)統(tǒng)治，你就必須要能夠打亂現(xiàn)實(shí)的意識(shí)。
2. To confuse intelligence and dislocate sentiment by gratuitous fictions is a short-sighted way of pursuing happiness.
以無(wú)理的幻想混淆智力，弄亂正常的情感是一種短視的追求幸福的方法。
3. Flights have been dislocated by thefog.
大霧將飛機(jī)的班次攪亂了。
【consult】
英英：seek information from
例句：
1. Consult your dictionary when unsure of your spelling.
對(duì)拼寫(xiě)無(wú)把握時(shí) 就要查閱詞典。
2. The shareholders may request to consult the accounting books of the company.
股東可以要求查閱公司會(huì)計(jì)賬簿。
3. You'd consult a calendar of cultural events and head over to the next Irish meet-up.
你可能會(huì)去查閱有關(guān)文化事件的日歷，而且開(kāi)始接觸你附近的愛(ài)爾蘭人。
【odd】
例句：
1. She wears rather odd clothes.
她穿相當(dāng)古怪的衣服。
2. Jack is liable to bring home any odd character that he picks up with in a pub.
杰克動(dòng)不動(dòng)就把酒館里認(rèn)識(shí)的各種古怪的人帶到家里來(lái)。
【reflect】
英英：think deeply
例句：
1. It's wise to reflect on your mistakes as well as your achievements.
對(duì)于所犯的過(guò)錯(cuò)與成就都能去深思是聰明的。
2. It's an important matter and I'd like to reflect on it, in case I have second thoughts.
這件事很重要，我想再深思熟慮一下，免得又改變主意。
3. Their questions forced me to reflect on why I made the choice I did.
他們的疑問(wèn)令我不得不深思自己當(dāng)初之所以作出這種選擇的原因。
【mighty】
例句：
1. Once a mighty empire ruled the world.
一個(gè)強(qiáng)大的帝國(guó)曾統(tǒng)治世界。
2. We will stand mighty for peace and freedom, and maintain a strong defense against terror and destruction.
我們將以強(qiáng)大的力量維護(hù)和平與自由，堅(jiān)決制止恐怖和破壞力量。
【dawdle】
英英：take one's time; proceed slowly
例句：
1. Girls are always likely to dawdle.
這女孩子嘛，就是愛(ài)磨蹭。
2. Don't dawdle away your time.
不要混日子。
3. Don't dawdle over your clothing. You're so beautiful already.
不要再在衣著上花費(fèi)時(shí)間了，你已經(jīng)夠漂亮的了。
【lodge】
英英：file a formal charge against
例句：
1. I want to lodge a strong complaint.
我要提出嚴(yán)重投訴。
2. We have to lodge a claim against you for inferior quality.
我們不得不對(duì)你們的劣質(zhì)產(chǎn)品提出索賠。
3. We are not terrified by these interferences, we can either ignore them or lodge protests.
這些干涉對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，沒(méi)有什么了不起，我們可以置之不理，也可以提出*。
【conduct】
英英：take somebody somewhere
例句：
1. He conducted us to the palace
他把我們領(lǐng)到宮殿。
2. He conducted the members of the audience to their seats.
他引觀眾到他們的座位上。
【常用表達(dá)】
【on time】正點(diǎn)，準(zhǔn)時(shí)
【go wrong】出錯(cuò)，出問(wèn)題
【take advantage of】利用
【as well】也，同樣
【in black and white】白紙黑字
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; air flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; but trains must be on time. Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall 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.
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 a 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 people besides myself who wished to take advantage of this excellent service. Neither was I surprised 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.'
【課文翻譯】
我們已經(jīng)習(xí)慣于相信火車(chē)總是準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)的。經(jīng)過(guò)多年的適應(yīng)，大多數(shù)人對(duì)火車(chē)時(shí)刻表產(chǎn)生了一種不可動(dòng)搖的信念。輪船船期可能因風(fēng)暴而推延，飛機(jī)航班可能因惡劣天氣而取消，唯有火車(chē)必然是準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)的。只有非同尋常的大雪才可能暫時(shí)打亂鐵路運(yùn)行。因此，一旦鐵路上真出了問(wèn)題，人們便不加思索地責(zé)備鐵路*。事實(shí)上，差錯(cuò)很可能是我們自己，而不是鐵路*的。
我查看了列車(chē)時(shí)刻表，滿意地了解到有一趟去威斯特海溫的快車(chē)。這是趟直達(dá)車(chē)，旅途總共才需1小時(shí)17分鐘。上車(chē)后，我不禁注意到許多當(dāng)?shù)厝艘采狭塑?chē)。一開(kāi)始，我并不感到奇怪，我想除我之外，想利用快車(chē)之便的也一定大有人在?；疖?chē)開(kāi)出幾英里即在一個(gè)小站威德里停了下來(lái)。對(duì)此，我不覺(jué)得奇怪，因?yàn)榧幢闶翘貏e快車(chē)也可能被信號(hào)攔住。但是，當(dāng)火車(chē)一站接著一站往前蠕動(dòng)時(shí)，我便產(chǎn)生了懷疑。我突然感到這趟快車(chē)并沒(méi)以時(shí)速90英里的速度呼嘯前進(jìn)，而是卟哧卟哧地向前爬行，時(shí)速僅30英里。1小時(shí)17分過(guò)去了，走了還不到一半路程。我問(wèn)一位乘客，這是不是開(kāi)往威斯特海溫的那趟快車(chē)，他說(shuō)從未聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)有這么一趟快車(chē)。我決定到目的地就給鐵路部門(mén)提意見(jiàn)。兩小時(shí)后，我氣呼呼地同威斯特海溫站站長(zhǎng)說(shuō)起此事。他說(shuō)根本沒(méi)有這趟車(chē)。于是我借他本人的列車(chē)時(shí)刻表，我?guī)е环N勝利者的調(diào)子告訴他那趟車(chē)白紙黑字。明明白白印在時(shí)刻表上。他迅速地掃視了一眼，讓我再看一遍。一個(gè)小小的星形符號(hào)把我的目光引到了那頁(yè)底部一個(gè)說(shuō)明上。上面寫(xiě)著：“此趟列車(chē)暫停運(yùn)行。”
【詞匯】
express n. 快車(chē);adj. 迅速的
punctual adj. 準(zhǔn)時(shí)的
condition v. 使習(xí)慣于
unshakable adj. 不可動(dòng)搖的
faith n. 信任
cancel v. 取消
exceptionally adv. 例外地
dislocate v. 打亂(計(jì)劃等)
blame v. 責(zé)怪
consult v. 請(qǐng)教，查閱
direct adv. 徑直地
odd adj. 奇怪的，異常的
reflect v. 細(xì)想
advantage n. 優(yōu)勢(shì)
mighty adj. 強(qiáng)大的，有力的
dawdle v. 慢吞吞的動(dòng)或做
chug v. 咔嚓咔嚓地響
lodge v. 提出
complaint n. 抱怨
triumph n. 勝利
asterisk n. 星號(hào)
conduct v. 引向，引導(dǎo)
【重點(diǎn)詞匯講解】
【condition】
英英：establish a conditioned response
例句：
For example in very hot rallies like Cyprus and Greece the drivers and the team trainer would go there one week before the rally to condition themselves to the heat.
比如像塞浦路斯或者希臘，車(chē)手和車(chē)隊(duì)的教練通常都提前一周就到那里，以使自己的身體適應(yīng)這種熱的天氣。
【unshakable】
構(gòu)詞：shake→shakable→unshakable
例句：
1. These virtues give me an unshakable faith in America.
這些優(yōu)點(diǎn)讓我對(duì)美國(guó)懷著不可動(dòng)搖的信念。
2. Attributions can often be hypotheses rather than unshakable facts.
作品的歸屬通常是一種假定，而非不可動(dòng)搖的事實(shí)。
【faith】
例句：
1. He has reaffirmed his faith in democracy.
他再次重申了自己的民主信仰。
2. But courage and religious faith alone are not enough to win battles.
但是單憑勇氣和宗教信仰要打勝仗還是不夠的。
【exceptionally】
例句：
1. Exceptionally, I went to school on Sunday.
我例外地利星期日到學(xué)校去。
2. The turkey dinner was exceptionally good, too.
火雞大餐也特別棒。
【dislocate】
英英：put out of its usual place, position, or relationship
例句：
1. If one is to rule, and to continue ruling, one must be able to dislocate the sense of reality.
你要統(tǒng)治，而且要繼續(xù)統(tǒng)治，你就必須要能夠打亂現(xiàn)實(shí)的意識(shí)。
2. To confuse intelligence and dislocate sentiment by gratuitous fictions is a short-sighted way of pursuing happiness.
以無(wú)理的幻想混淆智力，弄亂正常的情感是一種短視的追求幸福的方法。
3. Flights have been dislocated by thefog.
大霧將飛機(jī)的班次攪亂了。
【consult】
英英：seek information from
例句：
1. Consult your dictionary when unsure of your spelling.
對(duì)拼寫(xiě)無(wú)把握時(shí) 就要查閱詞典。
2. The shareholders may request to consult the accounting books of the company.
股東可以要求查閱公司會(huì)計(jì)賬簿。
3. You'd consult a calendar of cultural events and head over to the next Irish meet-up.
你可能會(huì)去查閱有關(guān)文化事件的日歷，而且開(kāi)始接觸你附近的愛(ài)爾蘭人。
【odd】
例句：
1. She wears rather odd clothes.
她穿相當(dāng)古怪的衣服。
2. Jack is liable to bring home any odd character that he picks up with in a pub.
杰克動(dòng)不動(dòng)就把酒館里認(rèn)識(shí)的各種古怪的人帶到家里來(lái)。
【reflect】
英英：think deeply
例句：
1. It's wise to reflect on your mistakes as well as your achievements.
對(duì)于所犯的過(guò)錯(cuò)與成就都能去深思是聰明的。
2. It's an important matter and I'd like to reflect on it, in case I have second thoughts.
這件事很重要，我想再深思熟慮一下，免得又改變主意。
3. Their questions forced me to reflect on why I made the choice I did.
他們的疑問(wèn)令我不得不深思自己當(dāng)初之所以作出這種選擇的原因。
【mighty】
例句：
1. Once a mighty empire ruled the world.
一個(gè)強(qiáng)大的帝國(guó)曾統(tǒng)治世界。
2. We will stand mighty for peace and freedom, and maintain a strong defense against terror and destruction.
我們將以強(qiáng)大的力量維護(hù)和平與自由，堅(jiān)決制止恐怖和破壞力量。
【dawdle】
英英：take one's time; proceed slowly
例句：
1. Girls are always likely to dawdle.
這女孩子嘛，就是愛(ài)磨蹭。
2. Don't dawdle away your time.
不要混日子。
3. Don't dawdle over your clothing. You're so beautiful already.
不要再在衣著上花費(fèi)時(shí)間了，你已經(jīng)夠漂亮的了。
【lodge】
英英：file a formal charge against
例句：
1. I want to lodge a strong complaint.
我要提出嚴(yán)重投訴。
2. We have to lodge a claim against you for inferior quality.
我們不得不對(duì)你們的劣質(zhì)產(chǎn)品提出索賠。
3. We are not terrified by these interferences, we can either ignore them or lodge protests.
這些干涉對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，沒(méi)有什么了不起，我們可以置之不理，也可以提出*。
【conduct】
英英：take somebody somewhere
例句：
1. He conducted us to the palace
他把我們領(lǐng)到宮殿。
2. He conducted the members of the audience to their seats.
他引觀眾到他們的座位上。
【常用表達(dá)】
【on time】正點(diǎn)，準(zhǔn)時(shí)
【go wrong】出錯(cuò)，出問(wèn)題
【take advantage of】利用
【as well】也，同樣
【in black and white】白紙黑字