考研

　　2022考研英语复习要抓紧，尤其是英语阅读占得分值会比较多。考研英语阅读能力想提升，还需要考生不断地日积月累阅读文章才能进步！文都网校考研小编为大家分享2022考研英语经济学人：中国高铁使城际通勤成为可能。希望能帮助到大家~【文末领资料】

2022考研英语经济学人：中国高铁使城际通勤成为可能

　　Few children grow up dreaming of being a commuter. But there is a logic to a life spent between a city job and a home in some quiet, affordable spot. The first modern suburbs sprang up to greet trains puffing out of Victorian London.

　　很少有孩子会梦想长大后成为一名通勤者。但是，在城市里工作，而生活在一个宁静、消费水平低的地方是合乎逻辑的。最早的现代划郊区的涌现正是伴随维多利亚时代伦敦的火车而来。

　　As countries such as Japan, France and Spain invested in high-speed trains, travelling at 250kph or more, new pairs of cities found themselves an hour or so apart, allowing for previously unthinkable commutes.

　　随着日本、法国和西班牙等国投资建造出时速高达250km/h的高铁，越来越多的城市相距车程不过1小时，这使过去无法想象的通勤成为了可能。

　　Now it is China’s turn. Planners did not have commuters in mind when they began building the world’s largest high-speed rail system just over a decade ago.

　　如今轮到中国了。十多年前，当规划者们开始建造世界上最大的高铁网络时，他们并没有考虑到通勤者。

　　They started with national trunk lines and regional spurs, to bind together a vast country and boost growth. Now, with more than 35,000km of lines laid, planners are building more intercity routes, creating conditions for fast, short hops.

　　他们从全国干线和地区支线开始，把幅员辽阔的土地联系在一起，从而促进地区增长。如今，随着高铁线路总长已达3.5万公里，规划者正在建造更多的城际铁路，为更加快速、便捷的短途出行创造条件。

　　One study in 2018, using mobile-phone data to track movements, found tens of thousands of people commuting from neighbouring cities into Shanghai, a megalopolis of 24m. Most of them came from Suzhou, a historic city half an hour away by fast train.

　　2018年，一项利用手机数据追踪人口流动特征的研究发现，成千上万人从邻近城市通勤至人口2400万的特大城市上海工作。他们中的大多数人来自相距半个小时高铁车程的历史古城苏州。

　　Last year the Journal of Transport & Health, an international outlet, published a survey of such pioneering riders. The typical respondent was a married man with one or two children, a middling-to-high income and a university degree.

　　去年，国际刊物《交通与健康杂志》发表了一项针对这些城际通行先行者的调查。最典型的受访者是已婚男性，养育着一到两个孩子，有着中高等收入和大学学历。

　　Three-quarters became long-distance commuters only after the arrival of high-speed rail. More of them describe intercity travel as a route to a better job than to a higher quality of life.

　　四分之三的人是在高铁建成后才成为城际通勤者的。他们中的许多人认为，城际通勤是为了获得更好的工作，而不是为了提高生活质量。

　　Indeed, many call commuting stressful, and something to do “when they are young”, notes a co-author of the survey, Chia-Lin Chen of the University of Liverpool. China’s high-speed railways do not sell season tickets to commuters, who must often scramble to secure daily tickets on trains meant for long-distance travellers.

　　该研究合著者之一、利物浦大学的陈嘉琳指出，事实上，许多人认为通勤会带来很大的压力，也只有“年轻的时候”才经受得住。中国的高铁不出售季票，因此通勤者总是需要去抢票。

　　Moreover, to promote newly built districts, high-speed railway stations are often built far from existing city centres, obliging commuters to travel long distances from stations to workplaces. All this exacts a toll on marriages and families, says Ms Chen.

　　此外，为了促进开发区的建设，高铁车站往往建造在远离现有市中心的地方，因此通勤者从车站到办公地点还有很长一段路。陈嘉琳表示，所有这些都对婚姻和家庭造成了不利影响。

　　The Xiao Langfang housing complex is a cluster of apartment blocks in the small, nondescript city of Langfang, 60km from central Beijing. It is an excellent base for commuting—a seven-minute walk from a high-speed railway stop that is, in turn, a 21-minute ride from Beijing South station. The one-way fare is 28 yuan ($4.33).

　　晓廊坊小区是位于不起眼的小城市廊坊的一个住宅区，距离北京市中心60公里远。晓廊坊非常适合通勤——步行至高铁站仅需7分钟，乘坐高铁千万北京南站仅需21分钟。单程票价为28元(约合4.33美元)。

　　It is a friendly spot. On a mid-week afternoon, its landscaped grounds are thronged with children flying kites, yapping lapdogs and old women playing cards in the winter sun. Above all, here in the northern province of Hebei, just outside Beijing’s city limits, property is cheap. Apartments in Xiao Langfang sell for 15,000 yuan a square metre. A comparable flat in Beijing could easily cost six times as much.

　　这是一个非常宜居的地方。在某一天的午后，小区里满是放风筝的孩子、汪汪叫的小狗以及在冬日阳光下发牌的老太太。较重要的是，这座位于河北的城市紧邻北京，但房价却很便宜。晓廊坊的房价为1.5万/平方米。而北京随便一套类似房子的单价就是它的六倍。

　　The authorities in Langfang want new residents to live and work in their city. They recently eased restrictions on outsiders buying property there, allowing them to invest if they make six months’ worth of social-security payments to Langfang’s fund (on top of payments made elsewhere).

　　廊坊市政府希望新居民们能在当地生活和工作。他们最近放宽了对外地人在廊坊购房的限制，只要人们在廊坊缴满6个月的社保(在外地缴纳过社保的基础上)便可买房。

　　But Langfang should be realistic, suggests a local property-salesman. He calls his home town a place where newlyweds and those starting families will choose to live until they can afford to move on.

　　但当地一位房地产销售表示，廊坊应该现实一点。他说，新婚夫妇和刚有了孩子的家庭会选择暂时居住在这里，一旦有能力了便会离去。

　　重难点词汇：

　　megalopolis [ˌmeɡəˈlɑːpəlɪs] n. 特大都市

　　scramble [ˈskræmbl] v. 攀登;争抢

　　nondescript [ˈnɑːndɪskrɪpt] adj. 无特征的，平庸的

　　推荐阅读：