全球交通阻塞 Global traffic jam

Hello, I’m Rob, welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m joined today by Jennifer.
大家好，我是Rob，欢迎来到6分钟英语。今天和我一起的是Jennifer。
Hi there, Rob.
你好，Rob。
Thanks for joining me. Now, this year the BBC is looking into the future, in key areas of science, politics, education and our personal life in a series called ’What If…’. One of the questions it’s asking is ’What if everyone had a car?’ and that’s what we’re discussing today and we’ll be looking at some of the language associated with driving and traffic.
谢谢和我一起主持。今年，BBC公司展望未来，在科学、政治、教育及我们个人的生活等关键领域它问的问题之一就是“如果每人都有一辆车会怎样？”这也是我们今天要讨论的，同时学习一些和驾驶和交通有关的词语。
Well, living in London, I know all about traffic, especially traffic jams – that’s where too many cars, lorries and buses get stuck in long queues on the road.
住在伦敦，我很了解伦敦的交通，尤其是交通堵塞--实在是有太多的小汽车、货车和巴士在路上卡住，排起长龙。
Yes, they are stuck together, just like jam! And it’s a big problem in cities around the world.It could be the situation that one day, all the traffic becomes one long queue and we have a global traffic jam! Today, we will be hearing about some possible solutions that may prevent this problem from happening. But first, I think it’s only fair that we begin today’s journey with a question.
是的，他们都卡在一起，就像果酱一样！它是世界各地城市的一个大问题。可能有一天会出现这样的情况，所有的车都排成一个长队列，使得全球交通堵塞！ 今天，我们将要听到一些可能会防止这种情况出现的方法。但首先，我认为在我们开始今天的旅程问一个问题才公平。
And this question is for me I suppose?!
我猜这个问题是问我的？
It is. On the subject of traffic jams, your question today is this. In 2010, one of the world’s longest jams occurred in Beijing in China.Do you know how long it was? Was it: a) 50 kilometres b) 100 kilometresc) 200 kilometres
是的。今天问你的问题是关于交通堵塞的。世界上最长的交通堵塞之一发生在2010年的中国北京。你知道有多长吗？是：a）50kmb）100kmc）200km
They’re all very long but I think I will go for a) 50 kilometres.
这几个都很长，但我觉得我会选a）50km。
OK, well let’s find out if you are right at the end of the programme. So we’re discussing the question, what if everyone had a car? It’s quite a worrying thought because already there are a billion cars in the world.And it is estimated – or predicted – that by 2050 there will be 4 billion cars.
好的，我们在节目的最后来看看你是否是对的。我们讨论的问题就是如果每个人都有一辆车会怎样？这确实是非常令人担忧的，因为现在全世界的汽车数量已经有10亿辆了。并估计或预测--2050年汽车数量将达到40亿辆。
That really would cause some serious gridlock – that means roads in towns and cities are so blocked that traffic is unable to move.
这真的会导致非常严重的交通堵塞---也就是说城镇道路拥堵以致于汽车无法移动。
It’s like that now in some developing countries where there has been a huge increase in car ownership;as people become wealthier, they want to own a car. But in one Indian city for example, that’s a big problem, as we can hear now from the BBC’s Theo Leggett. What word does he use to describe the chaotic mix of different types of vehicles?
现在像一些发展中国家，汽车的数量在激增；因为人们更有钱了，他们想要属于自己的车。例如在印度的一个城市，这是一个很大的问题，现在我们就来听一下来自BBC的Theo Leggett的报道。他将会用什么样的词来描述不同类型车辆的无序混乱组合？
This is Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, a fast growing city and a potent symbol of recent economic success.But it has a problem or to be more precise it has 1.8 million problems.That’s how many motor vehicles there are here, a maelstrom of cars, lorries, auto rickshaws and motorbikes, all crammed into roads that can’t cope with this much traffic.
这里是 Mumbai，印度的商业中心，一个快速发展的城市，近年来成为经济成功的有力象征。但是它有一个问题，更准确的说是拥有180万（辆车）的问题。这里有很多的机动车，汽车、 货车、 三轮车和摩托车，一股脑涌入到路上，道路无法承受如此多的汽车。
That’s Theo Leggett in Mumbai – a city which he describes as a potent symbol – a powerful symbol – of India’s economic success.But that success has come at a price – in other words, there is a negative side to the story.
这就是Theo Leggett在Mumbai--一个他描述为印度经济成功有力象征或者说强有力象征的报道。但是那种成功已经付出了代价的--换句话说，成功的故事也有负面。
Yes – the traffic, which he describes as a maelstrom – so a confusing, chaotic mix of vehicles which are crammed – bumper to bumper, so squeezed closely together in the city’s streets.
是的，交通，他形容为漩涡--如此混乱，无序，头尾相接,紧紧的挤在城市的道路上。
So when the commuters start their journeys - or get behind the wheel - in the morning rush-hour – the busiest time of day – they could spend hours just trying to make a relatively short journey to work.
因此，当上班族开始一天上班旅程的时候或者发动汽车的时候--在早高峰--道路一天最繁忙的时刻，或许他们要花上数小时才能移动相对较短的路程。
Well I think it would be quicker to walk!That’s certainly a good option in London, where research has found that traffic is slower now than it was 100 years ago.
我认为步行会更快些！这的确是一个不错的选择，在伦敦，研究发现交通比 100 年前要慢了。
So is this the end of the road for cars?
这就是汽车的尽头的了吗？
You mean will we stop using them? I think not. And Bjorn Lomborg, Director of Copenhagen Consensus Centre, agrees.Even with good public transport – that’s bus and train services – he says we love our cars. What does he think the solution is?
你的意思是我们要停止使用汽车？我不这样认为。 Bjorn Lomborg，Copenhagen Consensus Centre的主任同意我的看法。即便是公共交通良好的情况下--公交和地铁服务（完善）--他说我们仍然喜爱汽车。那他的解决方案是什么？
The solution is not, as many would like it to be, to cut back on cars because people want cars, the solution will have to be technological to find smart ways of getting less polluting cars and cars that the can pack much tighter and get much more efficiently around town.
解决方案并不像很多人想得那样减少汽车的数量，因为人们想要汽车，解决方案就是从技术层面寻找方法生产污染更小，更加紧凑，更有效率的车。
Right – so the solution is technological. Better technology to make cars less gas-guzzling, so using less fuel, which causes less pollution and they need to be smaller too.
对的，解决方法就是技术。采用更好的技术使车油耗更小，使用低油耗汽车，对环境污染更小，同时也需要汽车车身变小。
Yes, one company is already designing an M.I.T. City car which actually folds. Another is designing a thinner car with two wheels – like a motorbike but more stable.
是的，有一家公司已经在设计M.I.T.城市汽车，可以折叠。另一个方法就是设计更“瘦”的车，只有两个车轮--像摩托车，但是更牢固。
And I’ve heard about self-driving robot cars that can save space on the road by driving closer to the car in front.All very clever ideas. But there is one thing you can’t change – and that’s the driver! And come on, Jen, who’s the worst – men or women drivers?
我听说有驾车的机器人，他们可以离前面的车离得更近可以腾出路上更多空间。这是很好的想法。但是有件事是无法改变的--那就是司机!接下来，Jen，男士还是女士谁开车是最不安全的呢？
It’s definitely men! Women drivers are very safe at all time in my experience.
当然是男士了！在我的经历里女士开车一直都是很安全的。
I thought you’d say that! There’s one thing you can’t change – your answer to today’s question. Earlier, I asked you, in 2010, one of the World’s longest jams occurred in Beijing in China. Do you know how long it was? a) 50 kilometres b) 100 kilometresc) 200 kilometres
我早就知道你会这么说！有件事你是无法改变的--今天问题你的回答。开始的时候，我问过你，2010年世界上最长的交通阻塞之一发生在中国北京，你知道有多长吗？a) 50kmb) 100kmc）200km
And I guessed a) 50 kilometres.
我猜是a）50km。
And, I’m afraid you were wrong – a bit too short. This traffic jam was 100 km long.It happened on the Beijing to Tibet Expressway and lasted 12 days! OK Jennifer, before we go, could you remind us of some of the words we learned today?
嗯，你选错了哦，有点太短了。交通拥堵长达100km。它发生在京藏高速公路上，并持续了12天!好的，Jennifer，结束之前，你能给大家回忆下今天学到的词语吗？
Yes. We heard: traffic jams ,gridlock ,a maelstrom,bumper to bumper get behind the wheel,the end of the road , gas-guzzling
好的。我们听到的有：traffic jams--交通堵塞 ,gridlock--交通瘫痪 ,a maelstrom--局面混乱无序,bumper to bumper--车挤车get behind the wheel--开始驱动汽车,the end of the road --道路尽头, gas-guzzling --耗油的
Thanks Jennifer. Well, that’s it for today.
谢谢Jennifer。好了，这就是今天的全部内容。
Bye.
再见