外刊逐句精读｜《金融时报》：英国一条高铁竟然要修几十年？｜CATTI一级译员外刊

如有错误请指正，感谢~

Britain’s elusive high-speed rail dream

Despite the delays and spiralling costs ,the UK still needs HS2

重点词汇：

Elusive:adj.难以实现的

Example：Success will become even more elusive

Elude:vt逃避，躲避

High-speed rail: 高速铁路

High-speed train 高速列车 bullet train 高速列车，子弹列车

Despite : prep. In spite of something | despite the fact that

Example : She went to Spain despite the fact the doctor had told her to rest.

Despite yourself : if you do something despite yourself ,you do it although you did not intend to

Spiralling : adj.急剧上涨的 spiral: vi.急剧上涨 high speed 2

段落大意： 面对不断延误的工期和急剧上涨的开支，英国仍然需要修建HS2.

Countries such as France ,Germany or Spain with shiny and extensive high-speed rail networks may look with bafflement across the Channel to the agonies in Britain over building anything similar.The originally solid case for the HS2 line,meant to whisk passengers from London to Manchester and Leeds via Birmingham ,has become ever more precarious as the price tag has soared .After being repeatedly and hacked back ,the project is in danger of death by a thousand cuts.

重点词汇：

Shiny : adj. 闪亮的

Bafflement : n.困惑不解 baffle v.使困惑 baffled : a.困惑不解的

The Channel = the English Channel 英吉利海峡

Agony : n.极大的痛苦， agonise over sth 对某事非常焦虑 agonised adj.十分痛苦的

Solid : adj.可靠的 solid evidence

Case : n.理由，论据

Be meant to do sth 旨在做某事

Whisk : v.迅速带走

Delivery riders whisk everything from coffee to congee to customers in under 30 minutes

Precarious : adj.不稳的

Price tag : n.标价，费用

Soar :v. 急剧增加

Hack ： v.砍

Death by a thousand cuts = gradual decline or failure as the result of many minor mishaps 

段落大意：HS2的修建过程及其痛苦：造价上涨，反复延误，多次被砍，项目面临慢性死亡的危机

Cost estimates spiralling from £30bn a decade ago to as much as £100bn have forced the government to look for savings. Much of the Y-shaped line’s eastern arm to Leeds was scrapped in late 2021.A new ,two-year delay to another section may mean the line does not reach Manchester until the 2040s.Plans to bring HS2 to Euston in central London may now be completed only in 2041,with trains terminating till then several miles away in the west of the capital.Some MPs suggest what remains of the project - at least beyond Birmingham , to where construction is well under way-should be axed.Despite the costs and delays , that would be a mistake.

重点词汇：

Save : n.省钱，节省

Y-shaped： ...形状的 heard-shaped ： adj.心形的

Arm : n.臂状物

Scrap : v.取消，放弃 scrape：v.刮除

Terminate : v.到达终点

MP = Member of Parliament 议员

Be under way 正在进行

Axe : v. 砍掉，废止

段落大意：HS2现状：成本高涨迫使英国政府想办法节省花销，HS2 因此路线被砍，工程延期

提出观点：虽然目前困难重重，但废除HS2会是个错误。

The focus on speed in marketing HS2 has led it to be seen, wrongly, as a vanity project. In capacity terms ,it is essential infrastructure . Its origins lay in early-2000s forecasts of rail needs that projected southern sections of the west coast London-Glasgow line would hit maximum capacity by the mid-2020s,and the east coast line to Edinburgh a few years later.Though the pandemic has altered travel patterns ,those forecasts are broadly set to be met.Widening existing lines is itself expensive and disruptive.It was decided to build new high-speed routes to spread the load.

重点词汇：

Market : v.营销，推销 marketing n.市场营销

Vanity project : 面子工程

Capacity : n.容量

Infrastructure : n. 基础设施  essential service 基本服务

Projected : v.预计

Be set to do sth 准备好做某事

The talks are set to continue through the week

Disruptive : adj.有破坏的 disrupt v. 扰乱，使...中断

Route : n. （交通工具的）线路

Spread : v.分摊

Why not pay monthly and spread the cost of your car insurance ?

Load : n.负荷，工作量

段落大意：论据1：从运力角度来看，HS2是必要的基建项目，它可以在不影响现有线路的情况下分摊客流负荷，且更为经济。

难句解析：

Its origins lay in early-2000s forecasts of rail needs that projected southern sections of the west coast London-Glasgow line would hit maximum capacity by the mid-2020s ,and the east coast line to Edinburgh(would hit maximum capacity) a few years later.

定语从句

Since commuter and freight trains share the existing main lines,shifting inter-city services to dedicated tracks allows many more to run,at much higher speeds , while more local and goods trains can use the old lines . As HS2 will join the west coast line beyond the worst bottlenecks , faster and more frequent services can run through to northern England and Scotland.That makes less carbon-intensive rail travel a more alluring alternative to flying.And shifting freight from roads to rail is crucial to meet net zero targets ,but impossible without space on the railways.

重点词汇：

Commuter : n.通勤者 someone who travels a long distance to work every day

Commute : n. especially AmE the journey to work every day

  commuter train 通勤火车 commute v.通勤

Freight train : 货运火车 freight n.货运/货运货物

Inter-city : adj.城际的

Dedicate : adj.专用的 a dedicated high-speed rail link from the Channel Tunnel

Bottleneck : n.瓶颈路段，阻塞点

Carton-intensive : adj. 碳密集型 -intensive ...密集的 capital-intensive 资本密集型

Alluring : adj.非常吸引人的

Crucial : adj. Something that is crucial is extremely important because everything else on it

Net zero : 净零排放

段落大意：论据2：HS2能优化轨道使用方案，提高运力，提升运输效率，也更加环保

HS2 should therefore be completed at least to Manchester.While the government wants to tweak the Euston terminus design to save money,any delay in opening it should be kept to a minimum .The north-east arm to Leeds had a less compelling logic but alternatives,such as a leg through Nottingham to York ,could make sense. Ministers should remember cost-benefit studies can underestimate the additional activity a well-designed project will generate.Within eight months of opening last year-though delayed and over-budget - the cross-London Elizabeth Line was carrying 3mn passengers a week,50 per cent more than expected , with little sign it was “cannibalising” Tube journeys.

重点词汇：

Tweak : v.调整，稍稍改进

Terminus :n.终点站         terminal : n.航站楼 terminate v.终止，停止

Compelling : adj.令人信服的

Cost-benefit : adj.成本效益的 cost-benefit n.成本效益

Over-budget : adj.超出预算的 over-过于...的，超过...的 over-anxious adj.过分焦虑的

Cannibalise : v.（同类型产品）抢走，夺走其它产品的销量

We believe the two perfumes appeal to different buyers and won’t cannibalise one another’s sales.

The Tube :伦敦地铁

段落大意：提出建议：1.HS2至少应该修道曼彻斯特；2.尤斯顿站的工期延误应尽可能减少3.利兹线可以用诺丁汉-约克线替代。

难句解析：

Within eight months of opening last year-though delayed and over-budget--the cross-London Elizabeth Line was carrying 3mn passengers a week,50 per cent more than expected ,with little sign it was “canniblising “ Tube journeys.

Project managers and the government must continue to look for savings .But these should come through redesign or re-engineering , not lopping off further bites of HS2 and undermining its rationale ,or from postponements that reduce immediate outlays but push up the total end cost.

重点词汇：

Re-engineering : n.改建

Lop off 削减，砍掉

Rationale : n.理由，依据

The rationale for using this teaching method is to encourage student confidence.

Postpone : v.to change an event, action etc to a later time or date | postpone sth until | postpone doing sth - postponement

Outlay : n.费用，开支

段落大意：项目经理和政府应该继续想办法节省支出，但必须是从设计角度来想办法。

Lessons must be learnt,too,from the ballooning expenses and interminable planning and political approval processes.Though Britain is much more densely populated , engineers note big rail projects are managed very differently in France,seemingly without compromising quality or safety.The UK still needs HS2,and has no quick Plan B.But the project’s handling to date is really no way to run a railway.

重点词汇：

Balloon : v.激增

Interminable : adj.无休止的

Note ： v.指出

Compromise ： v.（由于妥协）损害 compromise safety 商业压力会损害安全

Plan B : 备选方案 Plan A 首选方案

Handling ： n.对付，处理

To date = up to now 目前为止

段落大意：英国也应从不断增长的成本，无休止的规划和漫长的审批过程中吸取教训