托福听力练习对照文本第八十八篇

　　I'm going to talk about a train that exemplifies the rise and fall of passenger trains in the United States: the Twentieth Century Limited.

　　我将要谈谈作为美国客运列车兴衰的例证的一列火车：二十世纪高级快车。

　　Let me go back just a bit.

　　让我来回顾一下下。

　　In 1893, a special train was established to take people from New York to an exposition in Chicago.

　　在1893年，一列专列被设立，载人从纽约去芝加哥的一个博览会。

　　It was so successful that regular service was then set up between these cities.

　　这事是如此的成功以至于定期的(客运)服务然后就在这些城市间建立了。

　　The inaugural trip of the Twentieth Century Limited was made in 1902.

　　二十世纪高级快车的首次旅行被安排在1902年。

　　The train was different from what anyone had ever seen before.

　　这个列车同之前任何人见到的都不一样。

　　It was pulled by a steam engine and had five cars: two sleepers, a dining car, an observation car, and a baggage car, which, believe it or not, contained a library.

　　它由蒸汽机(车)牵引，并且有五节车厢：两节卧铺(车)，一节餐车，一节了望车，和一节行李车，那个(火车)，不管你信不信，包含了一个图书馆。

　　The 42 passengers the train could carry were waited on by a large staff.

　　能运载42名乘客的火车，被大量的职员服侍。

　　There were even secretaries and a barber on board.

　　甚至还有秘书和一个理发师在火车上。

　　It wasn't long before people had to wait two years to get a reservation.

　　不久，人们就不得不要等两年来得到一个预约。

　　As time passed, technical improvements shortened the trip by a few hours.

　　随着时间的推移，技术进步把旅行缩短到了几个小时。

　　Perhaps the biggest technological change occurred in 1945, the switch from steam to diesel engines.

　　可能最大的技术的改变发生在1945年，从蒸汽机转换为柴油机。

　　By the 1960's, people were traveling by car and airplane.

　　到二十世纪六十年代，人们乘坐汽车和飞机旅行。

　　Unfortunately, the great old train didn't survive until the end of the century it was named for.

　　很遗憾，这非常了不起的老式火车没能幸存到它所得名的世纪的结束。