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Three engineers and three mathematicians¹ are traveling by train to a conference. At the station, the three mathmaticians each buy tickets and watch as the three engineers buy only a single ticket.

三个工程师和三个数学家一起坐火车去参加会议。到了车站，三个数学家每人各买了一张票，却看到三个工程师只买了一张票。

"How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" asks a mathmatician. "Watch and you'll see," answers the engineer.

“三个人只买一张票要怎么坐火车啊？”其中一名数学家问道。“等会你就知道了。”其中一名工程师回答。

They all board the train. The mathmaticians take their respective seats, but all three engineers cram² into a restroom and close the door behind them.

他们全部上火车之后，数学家各自找到位子，三个工程师却挤进厕所，把身后的门给关上。

Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He koncks on the restroom door and says, "Ticket, please."

火车开动后不久，车长便来收票。他敲了敲厕所的门说：“车票，麻烦一下。”

The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.

厕所门只打开一条缝，一只手拿了票伸了出来。车长车票一拿便继续往前走。

The mathmaticians see this and agree it is quite a clever idea, so after the conferrnce, they decide to copy the engineers on the return trip and save some money (being clever with money,and all that.)

数学家们看了都觉得这个点子真是聪明，会议结束后，便决定回程时学工程师，替自己省点钱（遇到和钱有关的事情，人自然就精明起来。）

When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment³, the engineers don't buy a ticket at all.

到了车站，他们只买了一张回程票，但让他们惊讶的是，工程师们连一张票都没买。

"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" asks one perplexd mathmatician.

“你们没有票要怎么回去？”其中一名一头雾水的数学家问道。

"Watch and you'll see," answers an engineer.

“等会你就知道了。”其中一名工程师回答。

When they board the train, the three mathmaticians cram into one restroom and the three engineers cram into another one nearby.

大伙儿上火车之后，三个数学家便挤进厕所里，而三个工程师则挤到旁边另一间厕所。

The train departed, shortly afterward⁴, one of the engineers leaves his room and walks over to the restroom where the mathmaticians are hiding. He knocks on the door and says,"Ticket, please."

火车开动后不久，其中一名工程师便从厕所出来走到数学家藏身的厕所，敲了敲门说道：“车票，麻烦一下。”

1 mathematicians   

数学家( mathematician的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do you suppose our mathematicians are unequal to that? 你以为我们的数学家做不到这一点吗？ 来自英汉文学
• Mathematicians can solve problems with two variables. 数学家们可以用两个变数来解决问题。 来自哲学部分

2 cram   

v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习

参考例句：

• There was such a cram in the church.教堂里拥挤得要命。
• The room's full,we can't cram any more people in.屋里满满的，再也挤不进去人了。

3 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

4 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。