Speed and comfort 又快捷又舒適

People travelling long distances frequently have to decide whether they would prefer to go by land, sea, or air. Hardly anyone can positively enjoy sitting in a train for more than a few hours. Train compartments soon get cramped and stuffy. It is almost impossible to take your mind off the journey. Reading is only a partial solution, for the monotonous rhythm of the wheels clicking on the rails soon lulls you to sleep. During the day, sleep comes in snatches. At night, when you really wish to go to sleep, you rarely manage to do so. If you are lucky enough to get a sleeper, you spend half the night staring at the small blue light in the ceiling, or fumbling to find your ticket for inspection. Inevitably you arrive at your destination almost exhausted. Long car journeys are even less pleasant, for it is quite impossible even to read. On motorways you can, at least, travel fairly safely at high speeds, but more often than not, the greater part of the journey is spent on roads with few service stations and too much traffic. By comparison, ferry trips or cruises offer a great variety of civilized comforts. You can stretch your legs on the spacious decks, play games, meet interesting people and enjoy good food -- always assuming, of course, that the sea is calm. If it is not, and you are likely to get seasick, no form of transport could be worse. Even if you travel in ideal weather, sea journeys take a long time. Relatively few people are prepared to sacrifice holiday time for the pleasure of travelling by sea.

Aeroplanes have the reputation of being dangerous and even hardened travellers are intimidated by them. They also have the disadvantage of being an expensive form of transport. But nothing can match them for speed and comfort. Travelling at a height of 30,000 feet, far above the clouds, and at over 500 miles an hour is an exhilarating experience. You do not have to devise ways of taking your mind off the journey, for an aeroplane gets you to your destination rapidly. For a few hours, you settle back in a deep armchair to enjoy the flight. The real escapist can watch a film and sip champagne on some services. But even when such refinements are not available, there is plenty to keep you occupied. An aeroplane offers you an unusual and breathtaking view of the world. You soar effortlessly over high mountains and deep valleys. You really see the shape of the land. If the landscape is hidden from view, you can enjoy the extraordinary sight of unbroken cloud plains that stretch out for miles before you, while the sun shines brilliantly in a clear sky. The journey is so smooth that there is nothing to prevent you from reading or sleeping. However you decide to spend your time, one thing is certain: you will arrive at your destination fresh and uncrumpled. You will not have to spend the next few days recovering from a long and arduous journey.

New words and expressions 生詞與短語

positively

adv. 絕對(duì)地，完全地

compartment

n. 列車客車廂內(nèi)的分隔間(或單間)

cramped

adj. 窄小的

stuffy

adj. 憋氣的，悶氣的

monotonous

adj. 枯燥的，乏味的

rhythm

n. 有節(jié)奏的運(yùn)動(dòng)

click

v. 發(fā)出咔噠聲

lull

v. 催人欲睡

snatch

n. 短時(shí)，片段

sleeper

n. 臥鋪

fumble

v. 亂摸，摸索

inspection

n. 檢查

inevitably

adv. 必然地，不可避免地

destination

n. 目的地

exhaust

v. 使精疲力盡

motorway

n. 快車道

ferry

n. 渡船

cruise

n. 巡游船

civilize

v. 使文明

spacious

adj. 寬敞的

seasick

adj. 暈船的

intimidate

v. 恐嚇，恫嚇

disadvantage

n. 短處，缺點(diǎn)

exhilarating

adj. 使人高興的，令人興奮的

escapist

n. 逍遙者

sip

v. 呷，啜

champagne

n. 香檳灑

refinement

n. 精心的安排

breathtaking

adj.激動(dòng)人心的;不尋常的

soar

v. 高飛，翱翔

effortlessly

adv. 不費(fèi)力地

landscape

n. 景色

fresh

adj. 精神飽滿的

uncrumpled

adj. 沒有垮下來

本文參考譯文

出遠(yuǎn)門的人常常需要決定是走旱路、水路，還是坐飛機(jī)。很少有人能夠真正喜歡坐幾個(gè)小時(shí)以上的火車。車廂很快就變得擁擠、悶熱，想擺脫開旅途的困擾是很難的。看書只能解決部分問題。車輪與鐵軌間單調(diào)的嘎喳聲很快就會(huì)送你進(jìn)入夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)。白天是忽睡忽醒，到了夜晚，你真想睡了，卻很難入睡。即使你走運(yùn)弄到一個(gè)臥鋪，夜間有一半時(shí)間你會(huì)盯著車頂那盞小藍(lán)燈而睡不著覺;要不然就為查票摸索你的車票。一旦抵達(dá)目的地，你總是疲憊不堪。乘汽車作長(zhǎng)途旅行則更加不舒服，因?yàn)檫B看書都幾乎不可能。在公路上還好，你至少能以相當(dāng)快的速度安全地向前行。但旅行的大部分時(shí)間都花在路上，而且只有很少的服務(wù)設(shè)施，交通也很擁擠。相比之下，坐船旅行或環(huán)游可以得到文明世界的各種享受。你可以在甲板上伸展四肢、做游戲，還能也很見到各種有趣的人，能享用各種美味佳肴——當(dāng)然，這一切只有在大海風(fēng)平浪靜的情況下才有可能。如果大海肆虐起來，你就可能暈船，那種難受勁兒是任何一種別的旅行的方式都不會(huì)帶來的。即使風(fēng)平浪靜，坐船旅行也要占用很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。沒有多少人會(huì)為享受坐船旅行的樂趣而犧牲假期的時(shí)間。

飛機(jī)以危險(xiǎn)而著稱，連老資格的旅行者也怕飛機(jī)。飛機(jī)另一個(gè)缺點(diǎn)是昂貴。但就速度與舒適而言，飛機(jī)是無與倫比的。騰云駕霧，在30，000 英尺高空以500英里的時(shí)速旅行，這種經(jīng)歷令人心曠神怡。你不必想辦法去擺脫旅途的困擾，因?yàn)轱w機(jī)會(huì)迅速地把你送到目的地。幾小時(shí)之內(nèi)，你躺在扶手椅上，享受著旅途的歡樂。真正會(huì)享受的人還可以在某些航班上看一場(chǎng)電影和喝香檳。即使沒有這些消遣條件，也總是有事可做。飛機(jī)上，你可以觀察世界上非同尋常的奇妙的美景。你毫不費(fèi)勁地飛越高山幽谷，你確能飽覽大地的風(fēng)貌。如果這種景色被遮住了，你可以觀賞一下展現(xiàn)在你面前的、一望數(shù)英里的、連綿不斷的云海，同時(shí)陽光燦爛，天空清澈明朗。旅途平穩(wěn)，絲毫不妨礙你閱讀或睡眠。不管你打算如何消磨時(shí)間，有件事是可以肯定的，即當(dāng)你抵達(dá)目的地時(shí)，你感到精神煥發(fā)，毫無倦意，用不著因?yàn)槁�長(zhǎng)的旅途的辛苦而花幾天時(shí)間休息來恢復(fù)精神。

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