【新唐人2013年08月23日訊】 (美国之音電)
Lewis要去美國芝加哥出差，想坐高鐵去洛杉磯看家人，但同事Jay告訴他說，美國沒有高鐵，原因之一是坐飛機十分方便。
Lewis: So there’s been no incentive to build super fast trains.
Jay: Yeah, that’s right. Also, Americans like to drive.
L: I’ve noticed in a lot of movies that Americans seem to enjoy road trips.
J: I’m from San Francisco, and I have friends who live in Los Angeles.It’s a nine-or-10-hour drive, but I’ve done it many times. There’s no convenient public transport in L.A. so I would have to rent a car anyway. So I just load up my CD player with good music, grab some coffee and hit the road.
除了坐飛機，美國人還喜歡開車。They enjoy road trips. Road trips 就是開車去一個地方，邊走邊玩。Jay說，從加州舊金山開到洛杉磯，需要九到十個小時，他來回開過很多趟，每次都是準備了好聽的音樂，帶上咖啡，然後就上路了。 hit the road 是上路的意思，hit 在口語裡，後面還經常跟 the gym, to hit the gym 就是去健身房。
L: So driving really is a part of American culture.
J: Yeah. Most of us get our first driver’s license when we are around 16 years old. I used to drive about an hour and a half to work every day – that’s three hours round-trip – and I didn’t think it was a big deal.
L: So aside from New York, there really isn’t much public transport infrastructure in the U.S.?
J: Many U.S. cities have some kind of light rail or subway system but except for New York, they don’t really completely cover the city in the same way as the Beijing or Shanghai subway does.
看來，開車還真是美國文化的一個重要部分。Jay說，美國孩子16歲左右就可以拿駕照。他以前每天開三個小時上下班，and he didn’t think it was a big deal. 而且也沒覺得這有甚麼大不了的。 a big deal 經常在口語裡出現。比如，It’s a big deal for me. 這對我很重要。What’s the big deal? 有那麼嚴重嗎？It’s no big deal. 沒甚麼大不了的。美國的很多城市都有地鐵火車，但是除了紐約以外，其他城市的公交系統都不像北京或是上海的地鐵那麼發達。
L: I think high-speed trains are great! They are safe, fast, quiet and convenient. You can work on your laptop or read a book…it’s a good way to relax.
J: That’s true…driving can be very stressful. Americans have been talking about building high-speed rail lines for years. But to be honest, I don’t know when or if it’s ever going to happen.
L: Well, I hope they start building them soon. But in any case…I’m going to have to look into flights to LA now.
J: Yep. And you’re probably gonna have to rent a car when you get there. Good luck and have a great trip!
L: Thanks Jay! See you in a couple weeks.
坐高鐵可以放鬆，看看電腦讀讀書，不像開車，會讓人 stressful 精神疲勞。不過沒辦法，Lewis 這次出差，如果想從芝加哥到洛杉磯去，就必須得 look into flights 看看坐哪趟班機了。