2025 年是世界上第一列旅客列車投入使用 200 周年。1825 年，世界上第一列旅客列車以每小時 24 公裡的速度行駛在英格蘭的斯托克頓和達靈頓之間。本期節目將介紹為瞭慶祝這個裡程碑英國所開展的活動，以及火車愛好者湯姆·切什爾最喜歡的英國慢車旅行路線，帶你感受鐵路旅行的獨特魅力。
詞匯：train travel 火車旅行
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.
測驗與練習
一、將標題和段落配對。
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、根據文章內容選出正確的選項。
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、用下列單詞完成對本文的總結。
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
（答案見詞匯表後）
詞匯表
on track （一語雙關）使用火車出行，步入正軌
witness 見證，目睹
passenger 乘客
steam locomotive 蒸汽火車
railway 鐵路
milestone 裡程碑
criss-cross 穿梭巡回，縱橫交錯
admission 門票費，入場費
carriage 車廂
hands-on 親身實踐的
bicentennial 200周年，200周年紀念日
enthusiast 愛好者，熱衷於…的人
off the beaten track 偏僻的，人跡罕至的
desolate 荒涼的，荒無人煙的
crown 稱譽，冠上名號
picturesque 風景如畫的
come a long way 取得進步
on the move 在行進，在移動
答案
一、將標題和段落配對。
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、根據文章內容選出正確的選項。
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、用下列單詞完成對本文的總結。
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?
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填表領取25分鐘真人外師課＋英文程度分析
