The world’s longest passenger train世界最长客运列车亮相

丁黎明

瑞士一家鐵路公司开发出了一列由100节车厢组成、长约2千米的超长火车。经吉尼斯世界纪录认证，这是全球最长的客运列车。

主题语境：交通运输 篇幅：274词 建议用时：5分钟

1 To celebrate the 175th anniver?sary of Switzerlands first railway， arailway company created the world slongest passenger train ever， a 1.2?mile?long monster snaking through the SwissAlps.

2 Formed of 25 new electric trains，the record?breaking 1，906?meter train took almost an hour to cover around 25 kilometersover the impressive UNESCO World Heritage Albula Line， which is famous for its endlessswooping curves and steep inclines（斜坡）. The mountain railways are regarded as greatfeats of engineering. The 62?kilometer line between Thusis and St Moritz， a world?renowned masterpiece of civil engineering， took just five years to build despite requiring 55bridges and 39 tunnels.

3 Unlike most Swiss and European railways， which use the standard gauge（标准轨距）between the rails of 1.435 meters， the rails， known as Rh?tische Bahn rails， are justone meter apart.“In order to complete the trains journey successfully， everything has tobe perfect. We need to be 100% synchronized（同步的）， every second. Everyone has tokeep their speed and other systems under control at all times，”lead driver Andreas Kramersaid.“We need to know the Albula Line very well， every change of gradient， and every in?cline.”

4 The mountainous Swiss landscape has encouraged creative transportation solutionsfor generations， resulting in one of the most train?reliant nations in the world. On average，Swiss citizens travel about 2，450 kilometers by train annually—an estimated quarter oftheir total transportation system. In 2021， Swiss Federal Railways operated 11，260 trainscarrying 880，000 passengers and 185，000 tonnes of goods per day on a 3，265 kilometer?long network with 804 stations. Therefore， the successful record attempt will be great forthe local area and for the country as a whole.

Reading Check

Detail

1. What is the worlds longest passenger train created for？

A. Celebrating the 175th year of Switzerlands first railway.

B. Satisfying peoples increasing demand for transportation.

C. Encouraging people to pay attention to Swiss winter sports.

D. Attracting more visitors to appreciate the beauty of St Moritz.

Vocabulary

2. What does the underlined word“feats”in paragraph 2 probably mean？

A. Dreams. B. Burdens.

C. Achievements. D. Competitions.

Inference

3. What does Andreas Kramer think of the drivers work？

A. It is boring.

B. It is well?paid.

C. It is dangerous.

D. It is demanding.

Inference

4. Why does the author mention the figures in the last paragraph？

A. To show the popularity of tourism among Swiss citizens.

B. To prove the significance of the successful record attempt.

C. To stress the difficulty of constructing the worlds longest train.

D. To present the trend of developing green transportation in Swit?zerland.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

Unlike most Swiss and European railways， which use the standard gauge between therails of 1.435 meters， the rails， known as Rh?tische Bahn rails， are just one meter apart. 与大多数瑞士和欧洲铁路使用1.435米的标准轨距不同，这条被称为雷蒂亚的铁轨轨距仅一米。

【点石成金】本句中的which引导的是非限制性定语从句，which在从句中作主语，修饰most Swiss and European railways，主句是the rails are just one meter apart；knownas Rh?tische Bahn rails作定语修饰the rails。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

be famous for 因……而著名

in order to为了

result in 導致

be regarded as 被认为是

under control处于控制之下

on average通常