第37课

旁白 neutral

We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual.

我们已经习惯了认为火车是准时的。

旁白 neutral

After years of conditioning, most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables.

经过多年的条件反射，我们大多数人对火车时刻表都产生了不可动摇的信任。

旁白 neutral

Ships may be delayed by storms;

船只可能因风暴而延误；

旁白 neutral

flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; but trains must be on time.

航班可能因恶劣天气而取消；但火车必须准时。

旁白 neutral

Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall might temporarily dislocate railway services.

只有异常大的降雪才可能暂时打乱铁路服务。

旁白 neutral

It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong.

当事情出错时，责备铁路当局实在是太容易了。

旁白 neutral

The truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs.

事实是，当错误发生时，它们更有可能是我们的，而不是他们的。

旁白 neutral

After consulting my railway timetable, I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven.

查阅了我的火车时刻表后，我满意地注意到有一趟开往韦斯特黑文的特快列车。

旁白 neutral

It went direct from my local station and the journey lasted a mere hour and seventeen minutes.

它直接从我当地的车站出发，行程仅需一小时十七分钟。

旁白 neutral

When I boarded the train, I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well.

当我登上火车时，我不禁注意到许多当地人也上车了。

旁白 neutral

At the time, this did not strike me as odd.

当时，这并没有让我觉得奇怪。

旁白 neutral

I reflected that there must be a great many people besides myself who wished to take advantage of this excellent service.

我想，除了我自己之外，肯定有很多人也希望利用这项优质服务。

旁白 neutral

Neither was I surprised when the train stopped at Widley, a tiny station a few miles along the line.

当火车在离铁路线几英里外的一个小站威德利停靠时，我也没有感到惊讶。

旁白 neutral

Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals.

即使是强大的特快列车也可能被信号灯拦住。

旁白 neutral

But when the train dawdled at station after station, I began to wonder.

但当火车在一个又一个车站磨蹭时，我开始感到疑惑。

旁白 neutral

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.

我突然意识到，这趟特快列车并不是以每小时九十英里的速度呼啸而过，而是以每小时三十英里的速度缓慢行驶。

旁白 neutral

One hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance.

一小时十七分钟过去了，我们甚至还没有走完一半的路程。

旁白 neutral

I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, but he had not even heard of it.

我问一位乘客这是否是韦斯特黑文特快，但他甚至没有听说过。

旁白 neutral

I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived.

我决定一到站就投诉。

旁白 neutral

Two hours later, I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven.

两个小时后，我正在韦斯特黑文车站愤怒地与站长交谈。

旁白 neutral

When he denied the train's existence, I borrowed his copy of the timetable.

当他否认这趟火车存在时，我借了他的时刻表。

旁白 neutral

There was a note of triumph in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white.

当我告诉他白纸黑字写着时，我的声音带着一丝胜利。

旁白 neutral

Glancing at it briefly, he told me to look again.

他简短地瞥了一眼，然后告诉我再看一次。

旁白 neutral

A tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page.

一个小小的星号引导我看到了页面底部的脚注。

旁白 neutral

It said: 'This service has been suspended.'

它写着：“此项服务已暂停。”