未来的交通方式
Transport of the future
Hello, I'm Rob and this is 6 Minute English
大家好，我是罗伯，这里是六分钟英语。
– the show that brings you an interesting topic, authentic listening practice and some vocabulary to help you improve your language skills.
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.
大家好，我是尼尔。
Our topic today is transport.
今天我们的话题是交通方式。
How do you think you'll be travelling to work in say 30 years' time, Rob?
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’.
好吧，不仅是在家办公会变得更加普遍，那是平常的意思。
But I hope I won't be working in 30 years' time!
我也希望三十年后我不用再工作！
Good answer!
回答得好！
But if we look back and see how transport has changed in the last 30 years, it makes you wonder what the future holds.
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.
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 means ‘not unusual’.
Commonplace是寻常的意思。
And there's been the development of high-speed train travel.
并且高铁出行有所发展。
But the main priority has been speed – going faster to make your journeys quicker.
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.
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。
But let's not waste any time and speed on to today's quiz question.
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.
啊，是啊，时间不等人，甚至是你，尼尔。
So can you answer this question?
所以你能回答这个问题吗？
According to Guinness World Records, in which country has the fastest ever train been recorded?
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？
Is it in…a) China b) Japan or c) France
是在a)中国 b)日本 还是c)法国
All these countries have fast trains.
这些国家都有快车。
But I've heard that Chinese trains go particularly fast.
但是我听说中国的火车跑得特别快。
So I'm going to say a) China.
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.
好的，你要等到节目最后来看下自己是否正确。
But let's talk more now about the future of transport.
但是现在让我们多谈些未来的交通方式吧。
One development we hear much about is automation.
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’.
自动化指的是让机器去做人们通常所做的工作。
And in terms of transport this means driverless vehicles.
并且在交通方式方面是指无人驾驶交通工具。
It won't be too long before we become the passenger in a driverless car.
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.
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。
The automated train prototype can travel for about 100 kilometres without driver intervention.
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。
A prototype is the first version of something, which can be tested before it is produced in large quantities.
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.
当然，有一些火车早已经通过计算机操纵驾驶了。
But there's an exciting plan to develop a form of driverless vehicle that could move you around at 1,123 kilometres per hour.
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.
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。
It's difficult to believe, because it's unlikely to happen.
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.
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 is the lead systems engineer and says there's nothing scary about it.
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.
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。
And so you can also think of it as an aircraft, flying at 200,000 feet.
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。
So people don't have any issue flying in aeroplanes, and people don't have any issue going in maglev trains.
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。
This is simply combining the two and allows you to be more energy efficient.
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.
所以Anita Sengupta对超回路列车所应用的技术类型进行了解释。
First she mentioned maglev, that's a short way of saying magnetic levitation.
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.
然后她提到了真空体系。
A vacuum is a space that has had all the air and any other gases removed from it.
真空是将所有空气和其他气体完全抽离的一个空间。
So the tube these pods travel in have no air in, so there's no resistance.
所以这些舱运行的管道中没有空气，所以也就没有阻力。
And these technologies are more efficient and they save energy.
并且这些技术更加高效，它们节省了能源。
Which is a good thing.
那是一件好事。
This sounds like a great way to travel, but will it take off?
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.
好吧，BBC科技通讯记者罗里凯兰-琼斯并不那么确定。
He thinks it will be quite challenging to convince governments to allow long metal tubes to be built on or below ground.
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.
但是我们必须尝试这些新技术，罗伯。
If we didn't, we'd still be travelling around on horse and cart!
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.
说得好，尼尔。
And we wouldn't have been able to travel at the great
speeds mentioned in today's question.
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。
Now earlier I asked you according to Guinness World Records, in which country has the fastest ever train travelled?
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？
Is it in…a) China b) Japan or c) France
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.
你错了，尼尔。
China does have some very fast trains.
中国确实有许多快速列车。
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.
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!
现在那就能让我通勤上班非常快了。
OK, shall we recap some of the vocabulary we've heard today?
好的，现在让我们回顾一下我们今天听到的单词？
Starting with commonplace.
首先是寻常。
Yes,which means ‘not unusual or often seen’.
指的是平常或者是常见。
For example 'free Wi-Fi in coffee shops is commonplace these days.'
例如，现在咖啡店里有免费无线网是常事了。
And very useful it is too!
并且它也非常有用。
Next we had automation, meaning ‘using a machine to do something instead of a human.’
接下来是自动化，指的是用机器代替人类做一些事情。
Automation in the car making industry has led to the loss of hundreds of jobs.'
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.
当然。
When you build a new car, you need to make a prototype.
当你想要制造一款新车的时候，你需要做一个原型。
That's the first version of something, which can be tested before it is produced in large quantities.
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。
The prototype of a new solar-powered bike has been so
successful that it's now going into mass-production.'
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.
得了吧，罗伯，那听起来有些遥不可及。
And by that I mean ‘so unbelievable it's unlikely to happen.’
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.
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。
That's short for magnetic levitation and is how some of the world's fastest trains travel.
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.
最后我们讨论的是真空这个单词。
It's a space that has had all the air and other gases removed from it, basically an empty space.
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。
The plan for Virgin's Hyperloop One is to make a maglev even faster by putting it in a vacuum tube.'
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。
And that brings us to the end of today’s 6 Minute English.
今天的六分钟英语到这里就要结束了。
Don’t forget to check out our You Tube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, and we’ll see you next time. Goodbye.
不要忘记登录我们的YouTube，Facebook，Twitter和Instagram主页，下次见，拜拜。
Bye.
拜。