Many people would claim that Tokyo has the largest subway system in the world. Of course this depends entirely on what form of ___(1)___ we use, whether it be number of stations, the number of passengers per year, size or complexity of interconnecting lines, etc. But the point is that the Tokyo Metro is enormous! At first glance, the map of colored lines ___(2)___ more like an intricate stained glass mosaic of sorts, with so many crisscrossing lines that even the most hardened metro user is certain to get a headache trying to decipher it. Even lifelong Tokyo residents are left ___(3)___ now and then when trying to determine the most efficient route to their ultimate destination. Fortunately, every station is equipped with a 'fare adjustment box', where passenger can insert their ticket, the machine determines whether they have paid too much or too little, and they can make the adjustment prior to ___(4)___ the station.
With over 3 billion passengers a year, the Tokyo subway system is the second most heavily used in the world, after Moscow, Russia. ___(5)___ the sheer volume in numbers, the system is notably orderly, punctual, and upon arrival in stations the carts consistently come to a halt in ___(6)___ the same position. Not only are seats heated, but stops are announced in both English and Japanese. Over 300 stations connect the majority of Tokyo's suburbs to the metropolitan heart of the city, including Shibuya, the busiest metro station in the world. With just under 4 million Tokyo residents passing through each day, the station shares a greater ___(7)___ to a congested airport or shopping mall than a metro station! 許多人會宣稱東京擁有世上最大的地鐵系統. 當然, 那完全取決於我們的評量標準, 是車站的數量、每年的乘客量、大小還是轉乘路線繁複程度等。但重點是東京地鐵真大! 第一眼看見彩色的路線圖還比較像是種精緻的馬賽克彩色玻璃. 即使是最常使用地鐵的乘客有時試著去解讀玻璃上錯綜相交的地鐵線時也一定會頭痛。即使是當在東京住一輩子的居民要試著決定到終點最快的路線時也被難倒。幸好每個車站都配有'車資計算機', 乘客可以投入車票讓機器會決定你是否多付車資或少付,然後在離站前你便可以付清差價。 擁有每年超過3百萬乘客,東京地鐵系統的使用頻繁度高居世界最二, 位居俄羅斯莫斯科之後。儘管數字上很壯觀, 地鐵系統卻很明顯的有秩序,守時而且進站的車廂很精準的停靠在固定的位置上。不但座椅很溫暖, 且每一站都有英日雙語廣播。超過300個主要地鐵連接城市中心商圈, 包括擁有世上最繁忙地鐵站的涉谷區。每天有著將近4百萬名東京居民穿梭在車站內, 這個地鐵站還比較像個忙碌的機場或百貨公司, 而非一個地鐵車站。 maintenance (n) 維持, 維修, 生活費 measurement (n) 測量 mobility (n) 流動性 uncovers (v) 揭露, 揭開 proclaims (v) 讚揚, 宣告 baffled (adj) 使困惑, 掙扎 compromised (adj) 妥協 presumably (adv) 大概地 predominantly (adv) 佔優勢地 recognition (n) 確認 resemblance (n) 相似 desertion (n) 拋棄 reputation (n) 聲望 indifferent (adj) 冷淡的, 中立的, 不重要的 |
Can you imagine Italian cuisine ____(8)____ the most ___(9)____ plants, the tomato? Well, long before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the tomato was entirely unknown to the European continent. It is in fact indigenous to South America, likely originating ___(10)___ Peruvian highlands. It was later transported to Mesoamerica, and was a staple food item for the Aztecs and other native Mexican cultures. Equally surprising perhaps is the fact that today China is the world's greatest producer of the little red treat, ___(11)____ for approximately one quarter of global output. There are over 7500 known varieties of tomato, ranging ___(12)___ the miniature cherry tomato to the heaviest recorded ____(13)____, weighing in at 3.5 kilograms! Tomatoes can be pickled, sundried, eaten fresh, drunk as a beverage or pounded into a paste, which is everyone's favorite condiment. In what is perhaps it's most ___(14)___ usage, around 115,000 kilograms of tomato are hurled and mashed into the faces and bodies of thousands of participants at Spain's annual Tomatino Festival. But the real question on everybody's mind is usually this: vegetable or fruit? Technically speaking, the tomato is a berry, a sub class of the fruit. ___(15)____ nutritionally speaking it is more vegetable-like and in terms of culinary usage it is generally treated like a vegetable, much like the eggplant, cucumber or pumpkin. 你可以想像義大利菜沒有這項最多變的植物-番茄嗎? 好吧! 在西班牙佔領美洲之前, 歐洲大陸的人們完全不知道番茄. 事實上番茄的原產在南美洲, 最初來自於祕魯高地, 之後被運送到中美洲, 後來成為阿茲提克人和其他原住民墨西哥文化的生活必需品. 同時令人驚訝的是, 事實上中國是目前世界上最大的製造商, 數量大約有全球產量的四分之一多. 世界上有超過7500種人們知道的番茄種類從小型櫻桃番茄到金式紀錄上最重的番茄樣本, 重達3.5公斤! 番茄可以醃漬, 日曬, 生吃, 搗汁或是搗碎做成每個人都喜愛的醬汁. 而最奇異的用途在西班牙的番茄節出現, 數千名參與者每年在彼此的臉上和身上投擲砸碎大約11萬5千公斤的番茄. 但每個人都有一個問題-番茄到底是蔬菜還是水果? 嚴格上來說, 番茄是種漿果, 是種次水果類, 但針對營養來說, 它比較像蔬菜且烹飪用途而言, 它的用途比較像茄子, 黃瓜或南瓜類的的蔬菜. within (prep.) 在…之內 versatile (adj) 多功能的 viable (adj) (胎兒) 能養活的 volatile (adj) (液體) 易揮發的 vulgar (adj) 粗俗的 making up (phrse) 編造, 補充 underlying 位於…的下面, 構成…的基礎 season (v) 加味於, 使(木材)乾燥; (n) 季票, 季節 decisive (adj) 堅決的, 決定性的 bizarre (adj)奇異的 wither (v) 乾枯 (+away/up); 衰亡(+away) accounting (v) (在…數量上) 佔…(+for) (n) 賬目, 說明, 解釋 (+of) rendering 提供 (+to), 歸還(+back), 放棄(+up) specimen (n) 標本(+of), (醫學)抽樣 specification (n) 詳述(+of); 明細單(+for); (產品) 說明書 serving 供應 (+with); 任職, 服刑(+as) extracurricular (adj) 課外的, 業餘的, (口)婚外的 confined (adj) 受限制的, 在分娩中的, 不能外出的 |
沒有留言:
張貼留言