The Westhaven Express

更新：2023-11-22

文本信息
复制文本
声音： 44100 HZ 128 kbps

[00:01.45]Lesson 37
[00:03.66]The Westhaven Express
[00:12.78]What was the mistake the author made?
[00:17.93]We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual.
[00:22.20]After years of conditioning,
[00:24.44]most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables.
[00:30.12]Ships may be delayed by storms;
[00:33.08]flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; but trains must be on time.
[00:39.02]Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall might temporarily dislocate railway services.
[00:45.40]It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong.
[00:50.81]The truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs.
[00:57.71]After consulting my railway timetable,
[01:00.68]I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven.
[01:06.30]It went direct from my local station and the journey lasted a mere hour and seventeen minutes.
[01:13.14]When I boarded the train,
[01:15.11]I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well.
[01:20.37]At the time, this did not strike me as odd.
[01:23.57]I reflected that there must be a great many people besides myself
[01:27.91]who wished to take advantage of this excellent service.
[01:31.98]Neither was I surprised when the train stopped at Widley,
[01:35.92]a tiny station a few miles along the line.
[01:39.72]Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals.
[01:44.21]But when the train dawdled at station after station, I began to wonder.
[01:49.76]It suddenly dawned on me that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour,
[01:56.74]but barely chugging along at thirty.
[02:00.22]One hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance.
[02:06.29]I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, but he had not even heard of it.
[02:13.53]I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived.
[02:17.59]Two hours later, I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven.
[02:23.11]When he denied the train's existence, I borrowed his copy of the timetable.
[02:28.41]There was a note of triumph in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white.
[02:34.93]Glancing at it briefly, he told me to look again.
[02:39.12]A tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page.
[02:44.23]It said: 'This service has been suspended.'