Lesson 44 Speed and comfort 又快捷又舒適

    People, traveling long distances frequently have to decide whetherthey would prefer to go by land, sea, or air. Hardly anyone can positivelyenjoy sitting in a train for more than a few hours. Train compartments soon getcramped and stuffy. It is almost impossible to take your mind off the journey.Reading is only a partial solution, for the monotonous rhythm of the wheelsclicking on the rails soon lulls you to sleep. During the day, sleep comes insnatches. At night, when you really wish to go to sleep, you rarely manage todo so. If you are lucky enough to get a sleeper, you spend half the nightstaring at the small blue light in the ceiling, or fumbling to find your ticketfor inspection. Inevitably you arrive at your destination almost exhausted.Long car journeys are even less pleasant, for it is quite impossible even toread. On motorways you can, at least, travel fairly safely at high speeds, butmore often than not, the greater part of the journey is spent on roads with fewservice stations and too much traffic. By comparison, ferry trips or cruisesoffer a great variety of civilized comforts. You can stretch your legs on thespacious decks, play games, meet interesting people and enjoy goodfood----always assuming, of course, that the sea is calm. If it is not, and youare likely to get sea-sick, no form of transport could be worse. Even if youtravel in ideal weather, sea journeys take a long time. Relatively few peopleare prepared to sacrifice holiday time for the pleasure of travelling by sea.

     Aeroplanes have the reputation of being dangerous and even hardenedtravellers are intimidated by them. They also have the disadvantage of being anexpensive form of transport. But nothing can match them for speed and comfort.Travelling at a height of 30, 000 feet, far above the clouds, and at over 500miles an hour is an exhilarating experience. You do not have to devise ways oftaking your mind off the journey, for an aeroplane gets you to your destinationrapidly. For a few hours, you settle back in a deep armchair to enjoy theflight. The real escapist can watch a film and sip champagne on some services.But even when such refinements are not available, there is plenty to keep youoccupied. An aeroplane offers you an unusual and breathtaking view of theworld. You soar effortlessly over high mountains and deep valleys. You reallysee the shape of the land. If the landscape is hidden from view, you can enjoythe extraordinary sight of unbroken cloud plains that stretch out for milesbefore you, while the sun shines brilliantly in a clear sky. The journey is sosmooth that there is nothing to prevent you from reading or sleeping. Howeveryou decide to spend your time, one thing is certain: you will arrive at yourdestination fresh and uncrumpled. You will not have to spend the next few daysrecovering from a long and arduous journey.

　　出遠門的人常常需要決定是走旱路、水路，還是坐飛機。很少有人能夠真正喜歡坐幾個小時以上的火車。車廂很快就變得擁擠、悶熱，想擺脫開旅途的困擾是很難的。看書只能解決部分問題。車輪與鐵軌間單調的嘎喳聲很快就會送你進入夢鄉。白天是忽睡忽醒，到了夜晚，你真想睡了，卻很難入睡。即使你走運弄到一個臥鋪，夜間有一半時間你會盯著車頂那盞小藍燈而睡不著覺;要不然就為查票摸索你的車票。一旦抵達目的地，你總是疲憊不堪。乘汽車作長途旅行則更加不舒服，因為連看書都幾乎不可能。在公路上還好，你至少能以相當快的速度安全地向前行。但旅行的大部分時間都花在路上，而且只有很少的服務設施，交通也很擁擠。相比之下，坐船旅行或環游可以得到文明世界的各種享受。你可以在甲板上伸展四肢、做游戲，還能見到各種有趣的人，能享用各種美味佳肴——當然，這一切只有在大海風平浪靜的情況下才有可能。如果大海肆虐起來，你就可能暈船，那種難受勁兒是任何一種別的旅行方式都不會帶來的。即便風平浪靜，坐船旅行也要占用很長時間。沒有多少人會為了享受坐船旅行的樂趣而犧牲假期的時間。

　　飛機以危險而著稱，連老資格的旅行者也怕飛機。飛機的另一個缺點是昂貴。但就速度與舒適而言，飛機是無與倫比的。騰云駕霧，在3萬英尺高空以500英里的時速旅行，這種經歷令人心曠神怡。你不必想辦法去擺脫旅途的困擾，因為飛機會迅速地把你送到目的地。幾小時之內，你躺在扶手椅上，享受著旅途的歡樂。真正會享受的人還可以在某些航班上看一場電影和喝香檳。即使沒有這些消遣條件，也總是有事可做。飛機上，你可以觀察世界上非同尋常的奇妙的美景。你毫不費勁地飛越高山幽谷，你確能飽覽大地的風貌。如果這種景色被遮住了，你便可以觀賞一下展現在你面前的、一望數英里的、連綿不斷的云海，同時陽光燦爛，天空清澈明朗。旅途平穩，絲毫不妨礙你閱讀或睡眠。不管你打算如何消磨時間，有件事是可以肯定的，即當你抵達目的地時，你感到精神煥發，毫無倦意，用不著因為漫長旅途的辛苦而花幾天時間休息來恢復精神。

 

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