2025 年是世界上第一列旅客列车投入使用 200 周年。1825 年，世界上第一列旅客列车以每小时 24 公里的速度行驶在英格兰的斯托克顿和达灵顿之间。本期节目将介绍为了庆祝这个里程碑英国所开展的活动，以及火车爱好者汤姆·切什尔最喜欢的英国慢车旅行路线，带你感受铁路旅行的独特魅力。

词汇：train travel 火车旅行

1 "The railway that got the world on track." On the 27 September 1825, crowds gathered in a small market town in north-east England to witness something that had not been seen before – a train carrying passengers for the first time. It had taken eight hours to travel 48km – around the speed of an average cyclist – but this steam locomotive was a pioneer in the development of modern railways and changed the world forever as rail spread across the globe.

2 2025 marks 200 years of passenger trains, and the UK is celebrating this milestone with Railway 200 – a year-long programme of events. From guided walking tours along old, abandoned rail routes, to competitions and careers events. Railway 200 organisers have also designed a travelling exhibition on a special train that will criss-cross the UK for 12 months. Admission to the train is free and there are four carriages, each with a different theme. These include a carriage with hands-on, interactive activities which invite people to test their engineering skills. Emma Roberts, Railway 200 organiser, said it is an "unforgettable experience" for visitors.

3 Also celebrating this bicentennial is Tom Chesshyre, train enthusiast and author of 'Slow Trains Around Britain'. Among what attracts him to train travel is that you can see places off the beaten track out the train window, and you can relax and read a book without worrying about traffic jams. Tom's favourite slow train ride is from Inverness, in the middle of Scotland, to the most northerly station in the whole of the UK in Thurso through "a kind of desolate landscape". Tom says, "You feel like you're taking a train and disappearing from modern life, leaving it behind." The route Tom crowned 'most picturesque' was a short journey from St Erth in Cornwall to St Ives which travels along a clifftop with the beach down below.

4 Train travel has come a long way since 1825. Today, trains are more efficient and better connected than ever. From the Eurostar, which connects London to mainland Europe through a tunnel under the English Channel, to high-speed routes in Japan and China, the world is on the move.

测验与练习

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 ________
Paragraph 2 ________
Paragraph 3 ________
Paragraph 4 ________

a. Nationwide celebrations
b. Trains in modern times
c. The train that changed the world
d. Train museums
e. Rail travel in Asia
f. Train route recommendations

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. What happened on 27 September 1825?
a. The first train travelled across the UK.
b. The first passenger train journey took place.
c. A train carried goods for the first time.

2. The writer of the text thinks the first passenger train was…
a. cheap.
b. slow.
c. boring.

3. Railway 200 have organised events just for schools and families.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

4. Tom Chesshyre says the most picturesque slow train route is in Scotland.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

5. The Eurostar is a train which crosses a body of water.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

The first train to carry 1) _______ travelled in 1825. This was a huge 2) _______ in British history as it connected communities and improved people's lives. Since then, the modern 3) _______ allows people to see places which are 4) _______ and far from civilisation, without sitting in traffic. Are you a train travel 5) _______?

off the beaten
track
railway
bicentennial
enthusiast
witness
milestone
passengers

（答案见词汇表后）

词汇表

on track （一语双关）使用火车出行，步入正轨
witness 见证，目睹
passenger 乘客
steam locomotive 蒸汽火车
railway 铁路
milestone 里程碑
criss-cross 穿梭巡回，纵横交错
admission 门票费，入场费
carriage 车厢
hands-on 亲身实践的
bicentennial 200周年，200周年纪念日
enthusiast 爱好者，热衷于…的人
off the beaten track 偏僻的，人迹罕至的
desolate 荒凉的，荒无人烟的
crown 称誉，冠上名号
picturesque 风景如画的
come a long way 取得进步
on the move 在行进，在移动

答案

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 c) The train that changed the world
Paragraph 2 a) Nationwide celebrations
Paragraph 3 f) Train route recommendations
Paragraph 4 b) Trains in modern times

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. b. On the 27 September 1825, crowds gathered in a small market town in north-east England to witness something that had not been seen before – a train carrying passengers for the first time.

2. b. It had taken eight hours to travel 48km –around the speed of an average cyclist. The writer includes this sentence to illustrate how slow the train was compared to modern trains. We can therefore infer that the writer thinks the train was slow.

3. c. Not given. Railway 200 have organised events, but who the events are for is not mentioned.

4. b. False. The route Tom crowned ‘most picturesque’ was a short journey from St Erth in Cornwall to St Ives.

5. a. True. From the Eurostar, which connects London to mainland Europe through a tunnel under the English Channel.

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

The first train to carry passengers travelled in 1825. This was a huge milestone in British history as it connected communities and improved people's lives. Since then, the modern railway allows people to see places which are off the beaten track and far from civilisation, without sitting in traffic. Are you a train travel enthusiast?