《新版新概念英语第三册(英音)Lesson (37)》歌词

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[00:01:49] 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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