新西兰英语 646 Auckland Rail Loop

 　　Today Auckland Transport showed the plan for the central city rail loop¹. At the moment, trains stop at Britomart. The plan is for trains to continue through Britomart, travel in a 3.5km tunnel under the city, come out of the tunnel and meet the western line near the Mt Eden station. The plan is for three new stations: at Aotea Centre, Karangahape Rd, and Newton.

　　Auckland city has to buy land from more than 200 landowners. The city could sell some of that land again after the tunnel is built because the new rail would be about 45m under ground.

　　Auckland Transport says the cost is now $2.86bn. If there are delays, the cost could increase. Auckland city needs the central government to pay half of that cost but the Minister of Transport will not agree to this. However, the Minister agreed that it was a good idea to buy the land now for a future rail loop.

　　Another plan is to build one station now and the rest later; however, the mayor², Len Brown, says that is not a good idea. He said in 1959, when the Auckland Harbour Bridge was built, there were just four lanes³. Ten years later, they had to add four clip-on lanes. Auckland needs to spend money and build for the long-term future.

　　Listen to June 2nd 2011 to hear more about these plans.

　　Vocabulary

　　loop – circle

　　delays – waiting time when nothing happens

　　clip-on – extra lanes attached to the outside of the bridge

　　long-term – many, many years (opposite: short-term⁴ – one or two years)

　　Grammar

　　When talking about the future, you can use would; for possibilities use could and might e.g. The tunnel would be 45m underground. If there is a delay, it could / might cost more.

　　Make your own sentences using would, could and might e.g. If I stay in New Zealand, …

　　Questions

　　Look at the questions for June 2nd 2011.

1 loop   

n.圈，环(状物)；回路，循环；v.(使)成环

参考例句：

• Loop the curtains up.把窗帘卷起来。
• He bends a wire into a loop.他将铁线弯成圆圈。

2 mayor   

n.市长

参考例句：

• The new mayor said he would clean the city up.新市长说，他要整顿本市。
• The mayor hurried into his office,brushing off the reporters.市长赶快走进办公室，拒不接见记者。

3 lanes   

n.小路( lane的名词复数 )；车道；航道；分道

参考例句：

• A headless rider haunts the country lanes. 一个无头骑士常出没于乡间的小路上。
• He made a kamikaze run across three lanes of traffic. 他不要命地冲过了三条车道。

4 short-term   

adj.短期的

参考例句：

• The short-term training class has been run three times.短训班办了三期。
• For this they are running short-term courses and evening classes.为此，他们办了短训班和夜校。