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，我是羅伯，這裡是六分鐘英語。這個節目會為大家到來有趣的話題，地道的聽力練習以及一些詞彙來幫助大家提高語言技能。
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，我是尼爾。今天我們的話題是交通方式。羅伯，你認為三十年後你將怎樣去工作？
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，不僅是在家辦公會變得更加普遍，那是平常的意思。我也希望三十年後我不用再工作！
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！但是如果我們回顧一下過去30年裡交通方式所發生的改變，你會去猜想未來的交通方式是什麼樣的。
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，我們見證了坐飛機對一些人來說是如何變成一件尋常事的。Commonplace是尋常的意思。並且高鐵出行有所發展。但是最優先考慮的一直是速度-更快速，讓你的行程更快。
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，我們將要討論的是一些讓交通方式變得更加快速的點子。不要浪費時間了，讓我們趕快看看今天的隨堂問題。
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，時間不等人，甚至是你，尼爾。所以你能回答這個問題嗎？根據金氏世界紀錄記錄，哪個國家有史上速度最快的列車？是在a)中國 b)日本 還是c)法國
All these countries have fast trains.But I』ve heard that Chinese trains go particularly fast. So I’m going to say a) China.
這些國家都有快車。但是我聽說中國的火車跑得特別快。所以我選a)中國。
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，你要等到節目最後來看下自己是否正確。但是現在讓我們多談些未來的交通方式吧。我們聽說得很多的一個進步是自動化。
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.
自動化指的是讓機器去做人們通常所做的工作。並且在交通方式方面是指無人駕駛交通工具。距離我們成為無人駕駛汽車的乘客不會太久。
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.
真嚇人！並且法國的火車工程公司阿爾斯通計劃在今年晚些時候對自動貨運列車進行測試。這個自動貨運列車原樣模型在沒有司機幹預的情況下可以行駛100公裡。原型是指某些事物的第一版，在大量生產之前可以對其進行測試。
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.
當然，有一些火車早已經通過計算機操縱駕駛了。但是有一個讓人興奮的計劃，人們將要研製一種讓人以1123公裡/小時速度移動的無人駕駛工具。
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，尼爾。那聽起來有點遙不可及，就像我們在科幻電影裡看到的飛行車。那很難讓人相信，因為那不太可能發生。
Well, you say that. But it’s already being tested in Nevada in the USA and has a name – Hyperloop One.
好吧，隨你那樣說。但是美國內華達州早已對此進行測試，並且有自己的名字-超迴路列車。
Tell me more!
多告訴我點！
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.
理念是你被放置與一個艙內，然後被推進一個急速行駛的金屬管道中，幾分鐘就能讓你到達目的地，而不是幾小時。Anita Sengupta是主導系統工程師，她說這沒有什麼可恐懼的。
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.
超迴路列車是一種在真空體系或真空管道中運行的磁懸浮列車。所以你也可以把它想像成一個在20萬英尺高空飛行的飛機。所以人們乘飛機飛行沒有問題，乘坐磁懸浮列車也就沒有問題。這只是簡單地將把兩者結合起來，更加節能。
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對超迴路列車所應用的技術類型進行了解釋。首先她提到了maglev， 那是magnetic levitation的簡寫。
It’s when trains travel on magnetic track, rather than conventional rails.
那指的是火車沿磁軌運行，而不是常規的鐵軌。
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.
然後她提到了真空體系。真空是將所有空氣和其他氣體完全抽離的一個空間。所以這些艙運行的管道中沒有空氣，所以也就沒有阻力。並且這些技術更加高效，它們節省了能源。
Which is a good thing. This sounds like a great way to travel, but will it take off?
那是一件好事。這聽起來像是一種出行的好方式，但是會成功嗎？
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科技通訊記者羅裡凱蘭-瓊斯並不那麼確定。他認為說服政府部門允許在地上或者地下建長長的金屬管道實在是有挑戰性。
But we have to try these new technologies, Rob.If we didn’t, we』d still be travelling around on horse and cart!
但是我們必須嘗試這些新技術，羅伯。如果我們以前沒有嘗試的話，我們現在還在騎馬或者馬車出行。
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
說得好，尼爾。並且我們也不可能以今天的問題中所提到的那樣的速度出行。早些時候我問你，根據金氏世界紀錄，哪個國家有運行最快的火車？是在a)中國 b)日本 還是c)法國
And I said a) China.
我說是a)中國。
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.
你錯了，尼爾。中國確實有許多快速列車。但是記錄的最快的列車是東海旅客鐵道株式會社的一列磁懸浮列車，在試驗跑道上速度達603公裡/小時。
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.
現在那就能讓我通勤上班非常快了。好的，現在讓我們回顧一下我們今天聽到的單詞？首先是尋常。
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見。例如，現在咖啡店裡有免費無線網是常事了。
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.』
並且它也非常有用。接下來是自動化，指的是用機器代替人類做一些事情。汽車製造業方面的自動化已經導致了數百個崗位的流失。
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.』
當然。當你想要製造一款新車的時候，你需要做一個原型。那是指某些事物的第一版，在大量生產之前可以對其進行測試。這款新型太陽能自行車的原型如此成功，現在將對其進行大量生產。
Come on Rob, that sounds a bit far-fetched.And by that I mean 『so unbelievable it’s unlikely to happen.』
得了吧，羅伯，那聽起來有些遙不可及。而且我那麼說是指難以相信，不太可能會發生。
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，曾經人們認為遙不可及的某個東西現在已經變為現實，那就是磁懸浮列車。Maglev是magnetic levitation的簡寫，也是世界上最快的一些列車的運行方式。
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.
最後我們討論的是真空這個單詞。它是將所有空氣和其他氣體完全抽離的一個空間，基本上是真空區域。超迴路列車計劃就是將磁懸浮列車放置於真空管道中，使其速度更快。今天的六分鐘英語到這裡就要結束了。不要忘記登錄我們的YouTube，Facebook，Twitter和Instagram主頁，下次見，拜拜。
Bye.
拜