大學英語II-10講述

1、大學英語 II Designed by Wang Xuemin UnitUnit 10 10 Ode to Public Ode to Public TransportTransport Text A The Importance of Public Transportation A US Congressman once proclaimed that, There can be no doubt that the transportation sector is the most critical sector of our economy. proclaim v.宣布，宣告，聲明 eg.

2、 I began to proclaim my support publicly.我正式對外宣布了我的支持。 sector n.部門，領(lǐng)域，行業(yè) eg. the public and private sectors of industry國有工業(yè)和私有工業(yè) 一位美國國會議員曾經(jīng)說過，“毋庸置疑 ，交通業(yè)是我們經(jīng)濟中的支柱行業(yè)?！?I know exactly what he means. 我很清楚他的意思。 In this day and age, access to transportation is considered a necessity. necessity n.必需的事物，必需品

3、 eg. Water is a basic necessity of life.生命離不開水。 在如今這個時代，交通出行已是生活中必 不可少的部分。 Public transportation is defined as a service that is available for use by the general public. 公共交通被定義為大眾所使用的一種服務(wù)。 It is a cheaper and environmentally friendly alternative. 它是一種相對便宜并且對環(huán)境有利的出行方 式。 It is not a transportation se

4、rvice that you can arrange privately to suit your own personal convenience (although you may, to a certain extent, such as paying for a cabin or suite on a train or ship) since you have to consider other passengers who are riding and making similar arrangements with you. arrangement n.安排；籌備 eg. This

5、 arrangement is quite satisfactory.這樣的安排很讓人滿意。 公共交通不是那種根據(jù)個人需求而隨意安 排的交通服務(wù)（雖然在某種程度上也可以 這樣做，比如說你可以付錢包下火車或船 上的一個包廂），因為你需要考慮那些和 你一起并和你做相似安排的其他乘客們。 I have experienced first-hand how important public transportation is. 公共交通有多重要，我親自經(jīng)歷過，所以 深有體會。 I live in Saipan, a US territory and the closest things we have

6、 to public transportation are tourist and school buses. territory n.領(lǐng)土；版圖；領(lǐng)地 eg. The territory was carved up by the occupying powers.領(lǐng)土被侵占者瓜分 。 我住在美國塞班，在那里只有游客公交和 學生公交這種公共交通工具。 You have to have your own car or bike, rent a car, or pay upfront for a taxi to go from point A to point B. upfront ad.預(yù)付地；

7、預(yù)交地 你不得不擁有自己的私家車或者自行車， 或者租一輛汽車，或者付費搭乘的士從一 個地方到另一個地方。 Otherwise you end up basked in sweat and sunburn traveling to work every day. bask in曬太陽；取暖 eg. Turtles like to bask in the sun. 海龜喜歡暴露于陽光中。 sunburn n.曬斑；曬傷 否則你就只能每天走去工作，太陽當空， 大汗淋漓。 When I first came here, I walked. 當我剛來這里的時候，去哪兒我都步行。 I walked goi

8、ng to and from work. 我步行上下班。 I walked to the store and lugged my heavy groceries back to the house. groceries n.食品雜貨 eg. She bought a box of groceries.她 買了一箱食品雜貨。 我步行去商店，然后徒步拖著大包小包的 東西回家。 I walked to church and I barely got to go to places farther than a twenty-mile radius from my house since I did

9、not own a car then, and I considered renting a car and riding a taxi such an expense for a starting single mother like I was at that time. radius n.半徑 eg. The police searched all the fields and woods within a radius of two miles. 警方搜查半徑兩英里范圍內(nèi)所有的田野和 森林。 expense n.費用，價錢 eg. The document was printed at

10、 the taxpayers expense.文件的印刷費用由納 稅人承擔。 我步行去教堂，由于沒有小汽車，而且租 輛小車或者打的對于當時我這樣一個年輕 的單身媽媽來說是筆不小的開支，所以我 很少去離家超過20英里遠的地方。 For me, public transportation is very important because of the following reasons: 于我而言，公共交通非常重要，主要是因 為以下幾個原因： 1. It saves money.1. It saves money. 1. 1. 節(jié)約開支節(jié)約開支 According to research don

11、e by the American Public Transportation Association, individuals can save up to $9,515 annually by parking their cars at home and using public transportation instead. annually ad.一年一次地 eg.Companies report to their shareholders annually.各公司每年向其 股東匯報一次。 根據(jù)美國公共交通協(xié)會的一項研究，如果 把車停在家里而使用公共交通工具，每人 每年可節(jié)省9515美

12、元。 In this economy, saving money has become a main concern in most households. household n.一家人，家庭 eg. I grew up as part of a large household.我生長在一個大家庭。 在如今的經(jīng)濟形勢下，如何攢錢已成為大 部分家庭關(guān)注的主要問題。 With the rising prices of fuel and other vehicle-related expenses, doing the public commute to work and school certa

13、inly saves money. commute n.上下班路程 eg.Its a long commute from New York to Boston.從紐約通勤到波士頓路程很長 。 隨著油費的不斷上漲和其他與車輛相關(guān)的 開銷日益增大，使用公共交通上下班和去 學校毫無疑問能節(jié)省很多錢。 2. It helps the environment.2. It helps the environment. 2.2.有利于環(huán)境有利于環(huán)境 When you switch from driving your car to taking public transport, you are reduci

14、ng your carbon footprint and making a great step forward in saving the environment. switch v.改變，轉(zhuǎn)變 eg. My mothers interest had switched to my health.母親轉(zhuǎn)而關(guān)注起我的健康來 。 transport n.交通車輛，運輸工具，旅行 方式 eg. Have you got your own transport?你 有自己的交通工具嗎？ carbon n.碳 當放棄開小車而改乘公共交通工具時，你正 在減少二氧化碳的排放量并為拯救地球環(huán)境 而貢獻自己的力量

15、。 The environmental cost of individuals using their cars every day has done massive damage to the environment and if the majority or all individuals like you and me use public transport instead, think of what good we could do for the environment. majority n.大部分，大多數(shù) eg. The majority of my patients ar

16、e from other towns.大多數(shù)來找我看病的患 者都來自其他城鎮(zhèn)。 開私家車出行對環(huán)境造成極大的破壞，如 果大多數(shù)人都能像你我這樣使用公共交通 工具的話，那么我們的環(huán)境就會好多了。 3. It will 3. It will weanwean us out of energy us out of energy dependencedependence. . wean v.逐漸戒除惡習 eg. Police weaned him away from drugs.警察讓他逐漸戒毒。 dependence n.依靠，依賴，依存 eg. This is a life style of se

17、lf- dependence.這是一種自力更生的生活。 3. 3. 逐步減少對能源的依賴逐步減少對能源的依賴 According to a paper made by Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue and Dr. Claude Comtois, transportation accounts for approximately 25% of world energy demand and for more than 62% of all the oil used each year. account for占 eg. These products, in total, acco

18、unt for about 80% of all our sales.這些產(chǎn) 品總共約占我們?nèi)夸N售額的80%。 approximatelly ad.大概，大約，約莫 根據(jù)讓-保羅羅德里格和克勞斯格里姆 博士所寫的一篇文章，交通所耗費的能源 大概占世界能源需求的25%，每年的耗油量 超過62%。 Ninety-five percent of transportation is almost completely reliant upon petroleum products with the exception of railways using electrical power. be re

19、liant upon依賴，依靠 eg. These people are not wholly reliant upon Western charity.這些人并 非完全依賴西方慈善團體。 petroleum n.石油，原油 exception n.規(guī)則的例外，例外的事物 eg. This is considered an exception to the rule.我們把這看作是該規(guī)則的例 外。 electrical a.電的，用電的，發(fā)電的 eg. electrical engineering電機工程學 除了鐵路使用電力外，95%的交通基本上完 全依賴于石油。 While the use

20、of petroleum for other economic sectors, such as industrial and electricity generation, has remained relatively stable, the growth in oil demand is mainly attributed to the growth in transportation demand. economic a.經(jīng)濟的；經(jīng)濟上的；經(jīng)濟學的 eg. They had led the country into economic disaster.他們把國家?guī)肓私?jīng) 濟災(zāi)難中。 e

21、lectricity n.電；電能 eg. When did electricity come to the village?這村莊何時開始有電力供應(yīng)？ stable a.穩(wěn)定的；穩(wěn)固的；牢固的 eg. The patients condition is stable.病人的情況穩(wěn)定。 be attributed to把.歸因于；認為. 是由于 eg.The car accident was attributed to faulty brakes.這次車禍被認為是剎 車失靈造成的。 而其他使用石油的經(jīng)濟領(lǐng)域，諸如工業(yè)和 電力行業(yè)都保持相對穩(wěn)定，石油的需求日 益增加主要歸因于交通需求的增長。 W

22、hen we strengthen our public transportation services, we are consequently lessening this oil demand and dependence. strengthen v.加強，增強，鞏固 eg. Yoga can be used to strengthen the immune system.瑜伽能增強人體免疫 系統(tǒng)。 consequently ad.因此，所以 lessen v.變小，變少，減弱減輕 eg. Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.經(jīng)常運動

23、有助于減輕痛 感。 當我們加強公共交通服務(wù)時，相應(yīng)地也在 減少對石油的需求和依賴。 It will also motivate us to consider alternative energy and fuel resources. resource n.資源，財力 eg.Resources management is an important business skill.資源管理是一 項重要的經(jīng)營技能。 這同時也激勵我們考慮可替代的能源和燃 料資源。 4. It provides 4. It provides easeease and and convenience.convenienc

24、e. Having public transportation definitely eases some of the burdens of people who do not have cars or prefer not to own one. ease n.舒適，安逸，自在 v.減輕，放松，緩和 eg.I never feel at ease in his company.跟他在一起我總是感到不自在。 4. 4. 為人們提供舒適感和便利為人們提供舒適感和便利 使用公共交通毫無疑問會減輕那些沒有車 或者不打算買車的人們的壓力。 They are provided with choices

25、 to use public transport. 他們可以選擇使用公共交通工具。 Public transportation also provides valuable services not just to local inhabitants in the area but to tourists as well. inhabitant n.居民，棲息動物 公共交通不僅為當?shù)氐木用穸乙矠橛慰?提供有價值的服務(wù)。 When a tourist visits a place,which does not have public transportation, their choices

26、are limited and the experience they get is limited, too. limit a.有限的 eg. He seems to have only a limited intelligence.他的智力似乎有限。 當游客來訪一個沒有公共交通工具的地方 ，他們的選擇就會受限，他們的旅游經(jīng)歷 也會受到相應(yīng)的限制。 All in all, public transportation improves our way of life, strengthens the community, provides new jobs for the public and

27、 gives us a cleaner environment. 總而言之，公共交通改善我們的生活，加 強社區(qū)之間的聯(lián)系，為公眾提供新工作， 并且還會給予我們一個更加清潔美好的環(huán) 境。 公共交通是開車的更好的替代方式嗎 ？這取決于個人的喜好或者個人的情況。 有些人更喜歡自駕出行，但是這并不意味 著公共交通對于多數(shù)人來說不是一種更好 的旅行方式。通常來講，公共交通的費用 也許更低，搭乘公共交通時不需擔心汽車 付款或者汽車保險費用，也不用承擔維修 保養(yǎng)和加油的花費。從環(huán)境角度而言多數(shù) 人搭乘公共交通會更加便捷，省時高效。 Improve peoples awareness of the importance of using public transportation. It is advi