The world's longest passenger train

江西 丁黎明

主题语境：交通运输

篇幅：274词

建议用时：5分钟

1To celebrate the 175th anniversary of Switzerland's first railway,a railway company created the world's longest passenger train ever,a 1.2-milelong monster snaking through the Swiss Alps.

2Formed of 25 new electric trains,the record-breaking 1,906-meter train took almost an hour to cover around 25 kilometers over the impressive UNESCO World Heritage Albula Line,which is famous for its endless swooping curves and steep inclines（斜坡）.The mountain railways are regarded as great feats of engineering.The 62-kilometer line between Thusis and St Moritz,a worldrenowned masterpiece of civil engineering,took just five years to build despite requiring 55 bridges and 39 tunnels.

3Unlike most Swiss and European railways,which use the standard gauge（标准轨距）between the rails of 1.435 meters,the rails,known as Rhätische Bahn rails,are just one meter apart.“In order to complete the train's journey successfully,everything has to be perfect.We need to be 100% synchronized（同步的）,every second.Everyone has to keep their speed and other systems under control at all times,”lead driver Andreas Kramer said.“We need to know the Albula Line very well,every change of gradient,and every incline.”

4The mountainous Swiss landscape has encouraged creative transportation solutions for generations,resulting in one of the most train-reliant nations in the world.On average,Swiss citizens travel about 2,450 kilometers by train annually—an estimated quarter of their total transportation system.In 2021,Swiss Federal Railways operated 11,260 trains carrying 880,000 passengers and 185,000 tonnes of goods per day on a 3,265 kilometerlong network with 804 stations.Therefore,the successful record attempt will be great for the local area and for the country as a whole.

Reading

Check

Detail

1.What is the world's longest passenger train created for?

A.Celebrating the 175th year of Switzerland's first railway.

B.Satisfying people's increasing demand for transportation.

C.Encouraging people to pay attention to Swiss winter sports.

D.Attracting more visitors to appreciate the beauty of St Moritz.

Vocabulary

2.What does the underlined word“feats”in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A.Dreams.B.Burdens.

C.Achievements.D.Competitions.

Inference

3.What does Andreas Kramer think of the drivers'work?

A.It is boring.

B.It is well-paid.

C.It is dangerous.

D.It is demanding.

Inference

4.Why does the author mention the figures in the last paragraph?

A.To show the popularity of tourism among Swiss citizens.

B.To prove the significance of the successful record attempt.

C.To stress the difficulty of constructing the world's longest train.

D.To present the trend of developing green transportation in Switzerland.

Language

Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentence in the text

Unlike most Swiss and European railways,which use the standard gauge between the rails of 1.435 meters,the rails,known as Rhätische Bahn rails,are just one meter apart.与大多数瑞士和欧洲铁路使用1.435米的标准轨距不同，这条被称为雷蒂亚的铁轨轨距仅一米。

【点石成金】本句中的which引导的是非限制性定语从句，which在从句中作主语，修饰most Swiss and European railways，主句是the rails are just one meter apart；known as Rhätische Bahn rails作定语修饰the rails。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

be famous for 因……而著名 be regarded as 被认为是

in order to为了 under control处于控制之下

result in 导致 on average通常