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(yuǎn)門(mén)的人常常需要決定是走旱路、水路，還是坐飛機(jī)。很少有人能夠真正喜歡坐幾個(gè)小時(shí)以上的火車(chē)。車(chē)廂很快就變得擁擠、悶熱，想擺脫開(kāi)旅途的困擾是很難的。看書(shū)只能解決部分問(wèn)題。車(chē)輪與鐵軌間單調(diào)的嘎喳聲很快就會(huì)送你進(jìn)入夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)。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(yùn)弄到一個(gè)臥鋪，夜間有一半時(shí)間你會(huì)盯著車(chē)頂那盞小藍(lán)燈而睡不著覺(jué);要不然就為查票摸索你的車(chē)票。一旦抵達(dá)目的地，你總是疲憊不堪。乘汽車(chē)作長(zhǎng)途旅行則更加不舒服，因?yàn)檫B看書(shū)都幾乎不可能。在公路上還好，你至少能以相當(dāng)快的速度安全地向前行。但旅行的大部分時(shí)間都花在路上，而且只有很少的服務(wù)設(shè)施，交通也很擁擠。相比之下，坐船旅行或環(huán)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(jiàn)到各種有趣的人，能享用各種美味佳肴——當(dāng)然，這一切只有在大海風(fēng)平浪靜的情況下才有可能。如果大海肆虐起來(lái)，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(huì)帶來(lái)的。即便風(fēng)平浪靜，坐船旅行也要占用很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。沒(méi)有多少人會(huì)為了享受坐船旅行的樂(lè)趣而犧牲假期的時(shí)間。

　　飛機(jī)以危險(xiǎn)而著稱(chēng)，連老資格的旅行者也怕飛機(jī)。飛機(jī)的另一個(gè)缺點(diǎn)是昂貴。但就速度與舒適而言，飛機(jī)是無(wú)與倫比的。騰云駕霧，在3萬(wàn)英尺高空以500英里的時(shí)速旅行，這種經(jīng)歷令人心曠神怡。你不必想辦法去擺脫旅途的困擾，因?yàn)轱w機(jī)會(huì)迅速地把你送到目的地。幾小時(shí)之內(nèi)，你躺在扶手椅上，享受著旅途的歡樂(lè)。真正會(huì)享受的人還可以在某些航班上看一場(chǎng)電影和喝香檳。即使沒(méi)有這些消遣條件，也總是有事可做。飛機(jī)上，你可以觀察世界上非同尋常的奇妙的美景。你毫不費(fèi)勁地飛越高山幽谷，你確能飽覽大地的風(fēng)貌。如果這種景色被遮住了，你便可以觀賞一下展現(xiàn)在你面前的、一望數(shù)英里的、連綿不斷的云海，同時(shí)陽(yáng)光燦爛，天空清澈明朗。旅途平穩(wěn)，絲毫不妨礙你閱讀或睡眠。不管你打算如何消磨時(shí)間，有件事是可以肯定的，即當(dāng)你抵達(dá)目的地時(shí)，你感到精神煥發(fā)，毫無(wú)倦意，用不著因?yàn)槁L(zhǎng)旅途的辛苦而花幾天時(shí)間休息來(lái)恢復(fù)精神。

 

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