词汇提示

1.lobbying 游说

2.torn 拔出

3.snarled 混乱的

4.proportion 比例

5.concern 涉及

6.fumes 废弃

7.erode 侵蚀

8.whiz by 呼啸而过

9.bumper 保险杠

原文

Public Transit

Public transportation in North America varies greatly from place to place.
Some large cities like New York, Boston, Toronto and Montreal have subway systems.
These same cities usually also have train service into the city.
But most towns and cities do not have subways or trains.
Some do not even have buses.
Most big cities have some sort of public bus service.
Inmost North American cities, people who use the buses complain about poor service.
This is partly because most people prefer to drive a car.
Automobile companies spend billions of dollars on advertising.
They want to convince young people that they should drive a car as soon as they are old enough.
Even when public transportation is very good, most North Americans prefer to drive cars.
So mostly students, poor people and seniors use buses.
The large car companies have a lot of economic and political power in North America.
They can usually convince politicians to limit the money put into public transit.
Lobbying by large car companies has been effective in closing down many railway lines.
In some cases, large corporations have bought train tracks, and torn them up so that no one could use them again.
Because of this, nearly all transportation in North America is by car, bus or truck.
The automobile created the modern North American city.
Cars allowed families to live outside the city and drive back in to work.
Since the 1920s, large numbers of Americans have lived in the suburbs, and used cars to do nearly all their daily activities.
People drive to school, to work, to the shopping mall, to the theater, to church and to doctors, lawyers and dentists.
Because the modern city is so spread out, it is difficult to get where you want to go by walking, or even by bicycling.
But the automobile also causes problems.
Car accidents are a major cause of death and injury.
Crowded streets and snarled traffic can lead to road rage.
Young people often use cars as super toys.
They enjoy driving very fast and take risks while driving.
A high proportion of serious accidents concern drivers using alcohol or drugs.
More recently, some people have accused cell phones of being a cause of accidents.
About half of the air pollution in North American cities is caused by motor vehicles.
The exhaust fumes from cars and trucks are part of this.
The other part is that vehicles erode the surface of the highways.
Small particles are torn loose from the road and thrown into the air as cars whiz by.
Heavy trucks are particularly large contributors to particle pollution.
Especially in hot weather, a layer of smog covers many cities.
Because city roads are often crowded, the result is frequent traffic jams.
When cars are moving very slowly, bumper to bumper, it adds to air pollution.
Another problem with cars is that not everyone can afford one.
The average car costs nearly $20,000 to buy, and about $4,000 a year to operate.
So cars are also a status symbol.
People with cars tend to move out of the city.
As a result, downtown areas are usually where the poorer people live.
For along time, many people have said that governments should try to make downtown areas more attractive to live in.
This would include improving public transit, into and inside, the cities.
And air pollution levels will decline.
Right now, the large automobile companies and oil companies oppose these measures.
Recently,there have been cuts to public transit in many cities.
Whether these cuts continue, or whether they get reversed, is a big political issue in North America today.

翻译

公共交通

北美各地的公共交通差异很大。
一些大城市，如纽约、波士顿、多伦多和蒙特利尔都有地铁系统。
这些城市通常也有火车服务进入城市。
但是大多数城镇没有地铁或火车。
有些甚至没有公共汽车。
大多数大城市都有某种公共汽车服务。
在大多数北美城市，乘坐公共汽车的人抱怨服务差。
部分原因是大多数人喜欢开车。
汽车公司在广告上花费数十亿美元。
他们想让年轻人相信，他们应该一到年龄就开车。
即使公共交通很发达，大多数北美人还是喜欢开车。
所以大多数学生，穷人和老年人使用公共汽车。
大型汽车公司在北美有很大的经济和政治权力。
他们通常能说服政客限制公共交通的资金投入。
大型汽车公司的游说有效地关闭了许多铁路线。
在某些情况下，大公司买下铁轨，然后把它们撕碎，这样就没有人能再使用它们了。
正因为如此，北美几乎所有的交通工具都是汽车、公共汽车或卡车。
汽车创造了现代北美城市。
汽车让人们可以住在城外，开车回家上班。
自20世纪20年代以来，大量美国人住在郊区，几乎所有的日常活动都用汽车来完成。
人们开车去上学、上班、去购物中心、去剧院、去教堂、去看医生、律师和牙医。
因为现代城市是如此分散，很难通过步行，甚至骑自行车到达你想去的地方。
但是汽车也会带来问题。
车祸是造成伤亡的一个主要原因。
拥挤的街道和混乱的交通会导致路怒症。
年轻人经常把汽车当作超级玩具。
他们喜欢开得很快，喜欢冒险。
严重事故的很大一部分与驾驶员使用酒精或药物有关。
最近，一些人指责手机是交通事故的一个原因。
北美城市大约一半的空气污染是由机动车造成的。
汽车和卡车排放的废气也是其中的一部分。
另一部分是车辆侵蚀高速公路的表面。
当汽车呼啸而过时，路面上的小颗粒被撕裂，抛向空中。
重型卡车是颗粒物污染的主要来源。
特别是在炎热的天气，一层烟雾覆盖了许多城市。
由于城市道路经常拥挤，结果是交通堵塞频繁。
当汽车一辆接一辆地缓慢行驶时，就加剧了空气污染。
汽车的另一个问题是并不是每个人都买得起。
一辆车的平均售价接近2万美元，每年的运营费用约为4000美元。
所以汽车也是地位的象征。
有车的人倾向于搬出城市。
因此，市中心通常是穷人居住的地方。
很长一段时间以来，许多人都说政府应该努力使市中心地区更有吸引力。
这将包括改善城市内外的公共交通。
空气污染水平也会下降。
目前，大型汽车公司和石油公司对此表示反对。
最近，许多城市都削减了公共交通开支。
这些削减是否会继续，或者是否会逆转，是当今北美的一个重大政治问题。

Level 4-Day 63.Public Transit

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