欧美文化博览 超级城市纽约 (5)

We're expected to be perfect every single day. We're dealing¹ with millions of people and it only takes one person to delay everything. It could be a sick passenger. It could be a crime.

我们被期望每一天都是完美的。我们正在应对数以百万计的人,只需要一个人，就可以推迟一切。可能是一个生病的乘客，也可能是一种犯罪行为。

Just because his train disappears underground, doesn't mean trouble won't follow. On a normal day, Abe's biggest concern isn't terrorists, it's his fellow citizens.

只因为他的列车驶入地下,并不意味着麻烦会跟随。在一个普通的日子,阿比的最担心的不是恐怖分子,而是他的同胞市民们。

The New York is New York. We have crime up here and down there, just like we do in the streets. Anything that happens in the street happens in the subway. The subway also carries its own built-in hazards. In 1991, five people were killed and more than 200 injured when a train derailed in Manhattan. In 2000, 66 people were injured when another train derailed in Brooklyn. Accidents on the subway are like farms in Manhattan, a rarity. Get no motorman can take the throttle² without looking over his shoulder as the disasters that struck other systems. 1975, a crowded rush-hour train crashes into a dead end on the London underground-- 43 people die. 1995, the worst subway disaster in history, in the capital of Azerbaijan, a crowded subway train catches fire in a tunnel--some 300 hundred people perish. Then there is terrorism. French police blame radical³ Muslims for a 1995 attack on the Paris metro⁴. Russian police suspect terrorists in the 2004 bombing of the Moscow subway. Perhaps the most frightening, the deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway that send thousands to the hospital, and 12 to their grave. And then came 9.11. It drove the message home.

纽约就是纽约。我们在这里和那里的犯罪,就像我们在街上做的一样。发生在街上的事情也会发生在地铁里。地铁也有自己的潜在危险。在1991年曼哈顿列车出轨导致5人死亡,超过200人受伤。2000年在纽约的布鲁克林, 另一辆列车发生出轨致使66人受伤。地铁事故就像在曼哈顿的农场,简直是稀世珍品。自然灾害袭击其他系统时候没有任何一位车长会不看肩膀后面发生了什么而还一味踩油门。1975年, 伦敦地铁一列拥挤的人潮列车撞进一个死胡同——43人死亡。1995年,在历史上最严重的地铁灾害,在阿塞拜疆的首府,一个拥挤的地铁列车在隧道起火——大约有3万人死亡。然后是恐怖主义。法国警方指责激进的穆斯林在1995年袭击巴黎地铁一号线。俄罗斯警方怀疑恐怖分子在2004年炸毁了莫斯科的地铁。也许最可怕的是,致命的沙林毒气袭击东京地铁,它能把成千上万的人送进医院,12人提前进入坟墓。再来就是9.11,它把消息带回家。

Along these rails, New York stands guard for danger. On a beautiful Indian summer morning, it struck from the most unlikely quarter. Right out of the clear blue sky, an unprecedented⁵ catastrophe⁶ has stopped the New York in its tracks.

沿着这些铁路,纽约防卫着危险的状态。印度一个美丽的夏日早晨,也许就是危险的前兆。对于洁净的蓝天来说,一种前所未有的灾难已经笼罩了纽约的地铁。

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 throttle   

n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压

参考例句：

• These government restrictions are going to throttle our trade.这些政府的限制将要扼杀我们的贸易。
• High tariffs throttle trade between countries.高的关税抑制了国与国之间的贸易。

3 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

4 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

5 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

6 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。