通勤路上那点事 The commute

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Neil...
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语，我是尼尔。
… and I’m Alice. Now Neil, how do you get to work?
我是爱丽丝。尼尔，你是怎么来上班的呢？
I cycle.
我骑自行车。
I didn’t know that! Somehow I hadn’t imagined you as a cyclist.And where’s all your bike gear?
我都不知道！不知怎么，我想不到你骑自行车的样子。你的骑车装备在哪？
Well, I sneak in the mornings, have a shower, and get changed. That’s my bike in the corner over there.
每天早上我偷偷进来，冲个澡，换个衣服。自行车就放在那个角落。
Oh, you’ve got a foldaway bike – which means it folds up so it’s easy to carry or put away. Do you wear lycra, Neil?
哦，你有一辆折叠自行车啊，折叠自行车可以折叠起来，易于携带和存放。那你穿莱卡了吗？
Yes, I do… it’s very comfortable.I wear lycra as often as I can.Lycra by the way is a stretchy fabric used in tight-fitting sports clothes.
当然，穿上非常舒服。只要有机会穿我都穿莱卡。莱卡是紧身运动衣常用的一种弹性纤维。
Well, I’ll have to see if I can catch you on your way into the building– I’m intrigued about this sporty Neil I didn’t know about!
我一定要在你偷偷溜进大楼时抓住你一次。我很好奇你穿运动衣的样子，之前我都不知道。
’Intrigued’ means to be very interested in something. Well, Alice, I’m flattered. And today’s show is about commuting – or travelling between your home and your work.So how did you commute this morning, Alice?
好奇是指对某事感兴趣。爱丽丝，我表示受宠若惊。今天的节目是关于通勤，也就是来往于家和办公室的这段路程。所以今早你是怎么来的呢？
I got the Tube – that’s the subway system here in London, also known as the underground – and it was a nightmare. We stopped in a tunnel for so long that people started talking to each other.
我乘地铁来的，伦敦的地铁系统简直是噩梦。我们在一段隧道里停了好长时间，人们不得不开始互相交谈。
And for those of you who aren’t Londoners, that’s unusual! Do you ever talk to people on the train?
对于你们这些非伦敦人来说，这太不正常了。你之前在火车上有跟其他人聊天吗？
No. People think you’re crazy if you talk to strangers.
没有。和陌生人聊天，其他人会觉得你疯了。
Well, maybe now’s a good time to talk about today’s quiz question, Alice.What question do you have for me?
也许我们现在应该谈一下今天的问题。你准备了什么问题给我？
Alright then. I know you like my questions, Neil. So here we go: What did the word ’commuter’ originally describe? Was it someone who…a) travelled with other people?b) paid a reduced fare to travel?Or c) travelled by train to work?
好吧。我知道你很喜欢我的问题。今天的问题是：’commuter’这个词最初是指什么？a)和其他人一起出行的人?b) 买打折车票出行的人?还是c) 乘火车上班的人?
Oh, that’s easy. I’m going to go for c) travelled by train to work.
这很简单。我选c) 乘火车上班的人。
Well, we’ll find out later whether you’re right or not.Now let’s listen to a commuter in Nairobi who takes a matatu to get to work.These are minibuses used as shared taxis in East Africa. Can you spot a word that means being quick to notice things going on around you?
之后我们再看你回答得是否正确。现在我们听一听在内罗毕乘马踏途（matatu）上班的人怎么说。马踏途是东非一种小型公交，类似共享的士。注意听一个词，表示快速留意周边事物。
When I’m stuck in the matatu there is a lot of strange things happen around you, so you have to be alert in Nairobi. When you open… when you leave your window open somebody can run away with your belongings. You may be speaking… using the phone… somebody just snatch your phone… you may expect the unexpected!
困在马踏途上，周边会有很多奇怪的事情发生。你在内罗毕必须保持警惕。当你窗户开着时，会有人拿着你的东西跑掉。你讲电话时，可能会有人抢走你的手机……你会遇到各种不可思议的事。
The word used by this commuter in Kenya is alert. And in these noisy, crowded buses you need to be alert in case someone runs away with your belongings– belongings are the things that you own.
这个肯尼亚的上班族所说的词是警惕。在嘈杂拥挤的公交上，你必须保持警惕，以防有人拿走你的所有物，也就是你拥有的东西。
Right. Somebody might snatch your phone – snatch means to take something quickly.
没错。有人还有可能抢走你的手机，抢走是指快速拿走某物。
Public transport in Nairobi sounds stressful! If I was taking the bus I’d want to have a nap – or short sleep.
内罗毕的公共交通让人紧张兮兮的。我乘公交车都想小睡一会。
Yes. Well, people have done research on commuting and stress levels – and interestingly women are more likely to experience stress during their journey than men.
有调查研究人们的通勤情况和压力水平，有意思的是，上班途中女性比男性更容易感受到压力。
Why’s that?
为什么呢？
Well, they’re more likely to do something which is being called ’trip chaining’ – where they make one or more stops on the way to work or going home – for example to drop off or pick up the kids from school– and this makes it more likely that something will go wrong with their journey.
女性通常采用“一行多得”的外出方式，她们会在上班或回家途中停几次做其他事情，例如接送孩子上学等，这使得一路上发生事情的可能性增大了。
Even if you aren’t trip chaining it’s no fun being stuck in a traffic jam – that‘s a large number of vehicles close together moving slowly– or being packed into a crowded train like sardines.Let’s face it – travelling by car or by public transport can be really miserable!
即便没有“一行多得”的习惯，遇到交通堵塞也令人不快。交通堵塞是指大批车辆紧挨着缓慢前行。还有像沙丁鱼罐头一样拥挤不堪的挤在火车里也让人不快。我们还是面对现实吧，无论乘坐汽车还是公共交通出行都很悲催！
Yes. Packed in like sardines describes people standing so close together that they can’t move – like fish in a can!So let’s hear how longer commutes can affect your health from US researcher Christine Hoehner.
没错。像沙丁鱼罐头一样拥挤是指人们紧挨着站，不能移动，就像罐头里的鱼一样。我们听听美国研究人员Christine Hoehner讲述多长的通勤路程会影响我们的健康。
My study found that adults who commuted longer distances from home to work were less physically active,less physically fit, weighed more and had higher blood pressure than those people who had shorter commutes.
我的研究发现，上班路程较长的成年人，身体活动较少，身体健康程度较差，体重颇重，血压较高，与那些上班路途较短的人相比。
The American researcher must be talking about commuters who aren’t engaged in active travel, mustn’t she? Because if you cycle a longer distance then you’re being more physically active.
美国研究学者说的是不参与主动出行方式的上班族，是吧？如果上班路途较远，选择骑自行车的话，身体活动很多。
I think you’re right, for once, Neil!
这次，你说的没错。
Yeah.
必须的。
And I’d better start going to the gym more.I don’t like the sound of high blood pressure.
我最好开始去健身馆锻炼。我不想患高血压。
Why don’t you hop on your bike, Alice? Then we can both wear lycra to work.
为什么不骑你的自行车呢？然后我们都能穿着莱卡上班了。
That’s a fantastic idea, Neil! Moving on! Here’s the answer to today’s quiz question. I asked: What did the word ’commuter’ originally describe?Was it someone who… a) travelled with other people? b) paid a reduced fare to travel? Or c) travelled by train to work?
这主意不错！还是继续说别的吧。现在公布之前问题的答案。我问你：’commuter’这个词最初是指什么？a)和其他人一起出行的人?b) 买打折车票出行的人?还是c) 乘火车上班的人?
And I said c) travelled by train to work. It must be right.
我选的是c) 乘火车上班的人。一定没错。
And you were wrong I’m afraid, Neil!It’s b) someone who paid a reduced fare to travel. The Oxford Dictionary says the word ’commute’ comes from from Latin commutare, from com- ’altogether’ + mutare ’to change’. The word was used in the US in the 1840s,when people paid a reduced or commuted fare to travel by rail from the suburbs into the city.
你回答错了，尼尔。正确答案是b) 买打折车票出行的人。牛津字典显示’commute’这个词来自拉丁文commutare，com-表示“一起”，mutare表示“改变”。这个词于19世纪40年代在美国使用，那时人们购买打折车票从郊区乘车去市内。
OK. Can you tell us the words we heard today again, Alice?
好吧，你能再复述一下今天听到的单词吗？
Of course I can. Here they are:
当然，今天听到的单词有：
foldaway bike
折叠自行车
lycra
莱卡
intrigued
好奇的
commuting
乘公交车上下班
the Tube
地铁
alert
警惕的
belongings
所有物
snatch
抢走
nap
小憩
traffic jam
交通堵塞
packed in like sardines
像沙丁鱼罐头一样拥挤
commuted
通勤
Well, that’s the end of today’s journey with 6 Minute English. Please do join us again soon.
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。我们下期节目再会。
Bye.
再见。