VOA标准英语2014--Chinese Try Carpooling During Busy New Year Holiday 中国人拼车回家过大年

 

Chinese Try Carpooling During Busy New Year Holiday 中国人拼车回家过大年

BEIJING — Hundreds of millions of Chinese are making their way home this week to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday.

The sun was still not up yet, but Wang Dehuai and his family were ready to leave Beijing.

An industrial designer from Henan, Wang was driving back home to celebrate China's most traditional holiday.

“It's more than 700 kilometers to get to the provincial¹ capital Zhengzhou," he said. "After that, we have still another 200 kilometers to get to our hometown. In total it will be more than 900 kilometers, if you count some stops to eat and rest a bit it will take 10 to 11 hours.”

For many travellers, this holiday is the only chance in a year to go back to where they grew up and spend time with relatives and childhood friends.

“It's all highway, and we are all in a hurry to be back," Wang said. "There is not going to be much to do during the ride this year, since we are not stopping in any city on the way.”

Wang recently heard of the car pooling concept² on the radio. He thought it was a good idea to give a fellow migrant a ride.

“We have an empty seat and it's just a good thing to help out others," he said. "It's difficult to buy train tickets especially if you try to book them later on.”

While people might flock³ to trains and buses to get home during the country’s biggest annual migration⁴, sharing car rides with strangers is still unusual in China, especially for white collar workers in cities.

So far some 11,000 people found rides home from Beijing for the New Year through Shunfengche, the online platform that helped connect Wang and Cui Tongqin, a business representative at a company in Beijing.

Cui says her search for train tickets was fruitless.

She had already resigned herself to spending the new year in Beijing, with other friends stuck in the city without a ticket home.

“I did not expect to be so lucky, and I am also leaving the first day of my holiday,” Cui said.

 

This journey is only one of the more than 3.5 billion trips transportation authorities⁵ estimate⁶ will take place during the 40 days of this holiday travel season.

1 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

2 concept   

n.概念，观念，思想

参考例句：

• A small baby has no concept of right and wrong.婴儿没有是非概念。
• He was asked to define his concept of cool.他被要求说明自己关于“酷”的定义。

3 flock   

n.羊群，一群，大量；vi.群集，聚集，成群

参考例句：

• A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open.一群顾客在等候着商店开门。
• A few sheep have been lost from the flock.羊群里少了几只羊。

4 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

5 authorities   

n.当局，权力，权威；权威( authority的名词复数 )；权力；学术权威；[复数]当权者

参考例句：

• They interceded with the authorities on behalf of the detainees. 他们为被拘留者向当局求情。
• At his instigation we conceal the fact from the authorities. 我们受他的怂恿向当局隐瞒了事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 estimate   

n.估计，估量；评价，看法；vt.估计，估量

参考例句：

• We estimate the cost to be five thousand dollars.我们估计费用为5000美元。
• The lowest estimate would put the worth of the jewel at ＄200.按最低的评估这块宝石也值200美元。