《新版新概念英语第三册(英音)Lesson (37)》歌词

歌手：朗文

时长： 02:56

--- lesson 37 the westhaven express[00:00:01]

--- listen to the tape then answer the question below.[00:00:06]

--- what was the mistake the author made?[00:00:12]

we have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual.[00:00:17]

after years of conditioning, most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables.[00:00:21]

ships may be delayed by storms;[00:00:29]

flights may be cancelled because of bad weather, but trains must be on time.[00:00:32]

only an exceptionally heavy snowfall might temporarily dislocate railway services.[00:00:38]

it is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong.[00:00:44]

the truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs.[00:00:50]

after consulting my railway timetable, i noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to westhaven.[00:00:57]

it went direct from my local station and the journey lasted a mere hour and seventeen minutes.[00:01:05]

when i boarded the train, i could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well.[00:01:12]

at the time, this did not strike me as odd.[00:01:19]

i reflected that there must be a great many people besides myself who wished to take advantage of this excellent service.[00:01:23]

neither was i surprised when the train stopped at widley, a tiny station a few miles along the line.[00:01:31]

even a mighty express train can be held up by signals.[00:01:39]

but when the train dawdled at station after station, i began to wonder.[00:01:43]

it suddenly dawned on me that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour, but barely chugging along at thirty.[00:01:49]

one hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance.^1[00:01:59]

i asked a passenger if this was the westhaven express, but he had not even heard of it.[00:02:05]

i determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived.[00:02:13]

two hours later, i was talking angrily to the station master at westhaven.[00:02:17]

when he denied the train's existence, i borrowed his copy of the timetable.[00:02:22]

there was a note of triumph in my voice when i told him that it was there in black and white.[00:02:28]

glancing at it briefly, he told me to look again.[00:02:34]

a tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page.[00:02:38]

it said: 'this service has been suspended.'[00:02:44]

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