BBC英语｜Transport of the future
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Hello, I’m Rob and this is 6 Minute English– the show that brings you an interesting topic, authentic listening practice and some vocabulary to help you improve your language skills.
大家好，我是罗伯，这里是六分钟英语。这个节目会为大家到来有趣的话题，地道的听力练习以及一些词汇来帮助大家提高语言技能。
And hello, I’m Neil. Our topic today is transport. How do you think you’ll be travelling to work in say 30 years’ time, Rob?
大家好，我是尼尔。今天我们的话题是交通方式。罗伯，你认为三十年后你将怎样去工作？
Well, not only will homeworking be more prevalent, that means ‘common’.But I hope I won’t be working in 30 years’ time!
好吧，不仅是在家办公会变得更加普遍，那是平常的意思。我也希望三十年后我不用再工作！
Good answer! But if we look back and see how transport has changed in the last 30 years, it makes you wonder what the future holds.
回答得好！但是如果我们回顾一下过去30年里交通方式所发生的改变，你会去猜想未来的交通方式是什么样的。
Yes, we’ve seen how air travel has become commonplace for many people. Commonplace means ‘not unusual’.And there’s been the development of high-speed train travel. But the main priority has been speed – going faster to make your journeys quicker.
是的，我们见证了坐飞机对一些人来说是如何变成一件寻常事的。Commonplace是寻常的意思。并且高铁出行有所发展。但是最优先考虑的一直是速度-更快速，让你的行程更快。
That’s true, and we’ll be discussing some ideas for making transport even faster soon. But let’s not waste any time and speed on to today’s quiz question.
是的，我们将要讨论的是一些让交通方式变得更加快速的点子。不要浪费时间了，让我们赶快看看今天的随堂问题。
Ah, yes, time waits for no one, not even you, Neil. So can you answer this question?According to Guinness World Records, in which country has the fastest ever train been recorded?Is it in…a) China b) Japan or c) France
啊，是啊，时间不等人，甚至是你，尼尔。所以你能回答这个问题吗？根据吉尼斯世界纪录记录，哪个国家有史上速度最快的列车？是在a)中国 b)日本 还是c)法国
All these countries have fast trains.But I’ve heard that Chinese trains go particularly fast. So I’m going to say a) China.
这些国家都有快车。但是我听说中国的火车跑得特别快。所以我选a)中国。
Well, you’ll have to wait until the end of the programme to see if you’re right. But let’s talk more now about the future of transport. One development we hear much about is automation.
好的，你要等到节目最后来看下自己是否正确。但是现在让我们多谈些未来的交通方式吧。我们听说得很多的一个进步是自动化。
Automation means ‘using machines to do work that humans normally do’.And in terms of transport this means driverless vehicles. It won’t be too long before we become the passenger in a driverless car.
自动化指的是让机器去做人们通常所做的工作。并且在交通方式方面是指无人驾驶交通工具。距离我们成为无人驾驶汽车的乘客不会太久。
Scary! And the French train engineering company, Alstom, is planning to test automated freight trains later this year. The automated train prototype can travel for about 100 kilometres without driver intervention. A prototype is the first version of something, which can be tested before it is produced in large quantities.
真吓人！并且法国的火车工程公司阿尔斯通计划在今年晚些时候对自动货运列车进行测试。这个自动货运列车原样模型在没有司机干预的情况下可以行驶100公里。原型是指某些事物的第一版，在大量生产之前可以对其进行测试。
Of course, some trains are already driven by computers. But there’s an exciting plan to develop a form of driverless vehicle that could move you around at 1,123 kilometres per hour.
当然，有一些火车早已经通过计算机操纵驾驶了。但是有一个让人兴奋的计划，人们将要研制一种让人以1123公里/小时速度移动的无人驾驶工具。
Come on, Neil. That sounds a bit far-fetched, like flying cars that we see in sci-fi movies.It’s difficult to believe, because it’s unlikely to happen.
得了吧，尼尔。那听起来有点遥不可及，就像我们在科幻电影里看到的飞行车。那很难让人相信，因为那不太可能发生。
Well, you say that. But it’s already being tested in Nevada in the USA and has a name – Hyperloop One.
好吧，随你那样说。但是美国内华达州早已对此进行测试，并且有自己的名字-超回路列车。
Tell me more!
多告诉我点！
The idea is, you get loaded into a pod then you’re pushed through a metal tube at high speed, taking you to your destination in minutes, rather than hours. Anita Sengupta is the lead systems engineer and says there’s nothing scary about it.
理念是你被放置与一个舱内，然后被推进一个急速行驶的金属管道中，几分钟就能让你到达目的地，而不是几小时。Anita Sengupta是主导系统工程师，她说这没有什么可恐惧的。
The Hyperloop is a maglev train in a vacuum system or in a vacuum tube.And so you can also think of it as an aircraft, flying at 200,000 feet.So people don’t have any issue flying in aeroplanes, and people don’t have any issue going in maglev trains.This is simply combining the two and allows you to be more energy efficient.
超回路列车是一种在真空体系或真空管道中运行的磁悬浮列车。所以你也可以把它想象成一个在20万英尺高空飞行的飞机。所以人们乘飞机飞行没有问题，乘坐磁悬浮列车也就没有问题。这只是简单地将把两者结合起来，更加节能。
So Anita Sengupta explained the type of technology the Hyperloop used. First she mentioned maglev, that’s a short way of saying magnetic levitation.
所以Anita Sengupta对超回路列车所应用的技术类型进行了解释。首先她提到了maglev， 那是magnetic levitation的简写。
It’s when trains travel on magnetic track, rather than conventional rails.
那指的是火车沿磁轨运行，而不是常规的铁轨。
And then she mentioned a vacuum system.A vacuum is a space that has had all the air and any other gases removed from it. So the tube these pods travel in have no air in, so there’s no resistance. And these technologies are more efficient and they save energy.
然后她提到了真空体系。真空是将所有空气和其他气体完全抽离的一个空间。所以这些舱运行的管道中没有空气，所以也就没有阻力。并且这些技术更加高效，它们节省了能源。
Which is a good thing. This sounds like a great way to travel, but will it take off?
那是一件好事。这听起来像是一种出行的好方式，但是会成功吗？
Well, BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones isn’t so sure. He thinks it will be quite challenging to convince governments to allow long metal tubes to be built on or below ground.
好吧，BBC科技通讯记者罗里凯兰-琼斯并不那么确定。他认为说服政府部门允许在地上或者地下建长长的金属管道实在是有挑战性。
But we have to try these new technologies, Rob.If we didn’t, we’d still be travelling around on horse and cart!
但是我们必须尝试这些新技术，罗伯。如果我们以前没有尝试的话，我们现在还在骑马或者马车出行。
A good point, Neil.And we wouldn’t have been able to travel at the great speeds mentioned in today’s question. Now earlier I asked you according to Guinness World Records, in which country has the fastest ever train travelled?Is it in…a) China b) Japan or c) France
说得好，尼尔。并且我们也不可能以今天的问题中所提到的那样的速度出行。早些时候我问你，根据吉尼斯世界纪录，哪个国家有运行最快的火车？是在a)中国 b)日本 还是c)法国
And I said a) China.
我说是a)中国。
And you were wrong, Neil. China does have some very fast trains. But the fastest recorded train was a maglev from the Central Japan Railway Company, which ran on a test track at a speed of 603 kilometres per hour.
你错了，尼尔。中国确实有许多快速列车。但是记录的最快的列车是东海旅客铁道株式会社的一列磁悬浮列车，在试验跑道上速度达603公里/小时。
Now that would make my commute to work very quick! OK, shall we recap some of the vocabulary we’ve heard today? Starting with commonplace.
现在那就能让我通勤上班非常快了。好的，现在让我们回顾一下我们今天听到的单词？首先是寻常。
Yes,which means ‘not unusual or often seen’. For example ’free Wi-Fi in coffee shops is commonplace these days.’
指的是平常或者是常见。例如，现在咖啡店里有免费无线网是常事了。
And very useful it is too! Next we had automation, meaning ‘using a machine to do something instead of a human.’ Automation in the car making industry has led to the loss of hundreds of jobs.’
并且它也非常有用。接下来是自动化，指的是用机器代替人类做一些事情。汽车制造业方面的自动化已经导致了数百个岗位的流失。
Of course.When you build a new car, you need to make a prototype.That’s the first version of something, which can be tested before it is produced in large quantities.The prototype of a new solar-powered bike has been so successful that it’s now going into mass-production.’
当然。当你想要制造一款新车的时候，你需要做一个原型。那是指某些事物的第一版，在大量生产之前可以对其进行测试。这款新型太阳能自行车的原型如此成功，现在将对其进行大量生产。
Come on Rob, that sounds a bit far-fetched.And by that I mean ‘so unbelievable it’s unlikely to happen.’
得了吧，罗伯，那听起来有些遥不可及。而且我那么说是指难以相信，不太可能会发生。
Well, something people once thought far-fetched is now a reality and that’s maglev.That’s short for magnetic levitation and is how some of the world’s fastest trains travel.
好吧，曾经人们认为遥不可及的某个东西现在已经变为现实，那就是磁悬浮列车。Maglev是magnetic levitation的简写，也是世界上最快的一些列车的运行方式。
Finally, we discussed the word vacuum. It’s a space that has had all the air and other gases removed from it, basically an empty space.The plan for Virgin’s Hyperloop One is to make a maglev even faster by putting it in a vacuum tube.’ And that brings us to the end of today’s 6 Minute English. Don’t forget to check out our You Tube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, and we’ll see you next time. Goodbye.
最后我们讨论的是真空这个单词。它是将所有空气和其他气体完全抽离的一个空间，基本上是真空区域。超回路列车计划就是将磁悬浮列车放置于真空管道中，使其速度更快。今天的六分钟英语到这里就要结束了。不要忘记登录我们的YouTube，Facebook，Twitter和Instagram主页，下次见，拜拜。
Bye.
拜