Upper-Intermediate - Chinese Commuters (D0362)

我到处都看到挖马路，上海到底要造多少条地铁线？
wǒ dàochù dōu kàndào wā mǎlù ，Shànghǎi dàodǐ yào zào duōshao tiáo dìtiě xiàn ？
Everywhere I look I see roads being dug up, how many subway lines do they want to build in Shanghai anyways?

十多条呢！我真等不急了，现在的交通状况这么差，还是坐地铁最方便最省时。
shí duō tiáo ne ！wǒ zhēn děngbují le ，xiànzài de jiāotōng zhuàngkuàng zhème chà ，háishì zuò dìtiě zuì fāngbiàn zuì shěngshí 。
More than ten! I really can’t wait. The state of traffic is so terrible now, taking the subway is still the most convenient and time-efficient.

那倒是。这几年，私家车发展太快了。道路建设根本赶不上，所以成天堵车。我的好多朋友现在都后悔买车呢，因为现在在路上花的时间反而更多。
nà dàoshì 。zhè jǐ nián ，sījiāchē fāzhǎn tài kuài le 。dàolù jiànshè gēnběn gǎnbushàng ，suǒyǐ chéngtiān dǔchē 。wǒ de hǎo duō péngyou xiànzài dōu hòuhuǐ mǎichē ne ，yīnwèi xiànzài zài lùshang huā de shíjiān fǎnér gèng duō 。
That’s true. These past few years, the number of privately-owned cars has expanded too quickly. Road construction cannot keep up, so there are traffic jams all day long. A lot of my friends regret buying a car, since the time they now spend on the road is actually longer.

没错。而且汽油这么贵，再加上市中心停车又贵又不方便，所以好多人上下班还是选择坐地铁、公车。这样既可以缓解交通压力，也更环保。
méicuò 。érqiě qìyóu zhème guì ，zài jiāshang shìzhōngxīn tíngchē yòu guì yòu bù fāngbiàn ，suǒyǐ hǎo duō rén shàngxiàbān háishì xuǎnzé zuò dìtiě 、gōngchē 。zhèyàngde jì kěyǐ huǎnjiě jiāotōng yālì ，yě gèng huánbǎo 。
That’s right. Plus, fuel is so expensive, and on top of that parking in the downtown area is both expensive and inconvenient. So a lot of commuters still choose to take the subway or bus to and from work. This can alleviate traffic pressure, and is also better for the environment.

嗯，其实我一直觉得公共交通系统很不错。轨道和地面交通四通八达。公共汽车还有专门的车道，开得比汽车还快。而且收费也非常低。
ng ，qíshí wǒ yīzhí juéde gōnggòngjiāotōng xìtǒng hěn bùcuò 。guǐdào hé dìmiàn jiāotōng sìtōngbādá 。gōnggòngqìchē hái yǒu zhuānmén de chēdào ，kāi de bǐ qìchē hái kuài 。érqiě shōufèi yě fēicháng dī 。
Uh-huh. Actually, I’ve always felt that the public transportation system is pretty good. The light-rail and surface transportation go everywhere. The buses also have special lanes, so they go faster than the cars can. In addition, the fares are very low.

是啊，对于上海这样的超大型城市来说，要解决交通问题，还是要靠地下和地面的轨道交通。前几年，我们盲目追求私家车，认为这样出行方便。可是事实证明无止境地增加私家车数量不论给交通还是环境都带来了严重的后果。
shìā ，duìyú Shànghǎi zhèyàngde chāodàxíng chéngshì láishuō ，yào jiějué jiāotōng wèntí ，háishì yào kào dìxià hé dìmiàn de guǐdàojiāotōng 。qián jǐ nián ，wǒmen mángmù zhuīqiú sījiāchē ，rènwéi zhèyàngde chūxíng fāngbiàn 。kěshì shìshí zhèngmíng wúzhǐjìng de zēngjiā sījiāchē shùliàng bùlùn gěi jiāotōng háishì huánjìng dōu dàilái le yánzhòng de hòuguǒ 。
Yes, for a city as huge as Shanghai, to solve the traffic problem you need to rely on underground and aboveground light-rail transportation systems. These past few years, we blindly sought after private vehicles, because we felt they were convenient for travel. However the facts bear out that increasing the numbers of privately-owned vehicles to no end, heedless of traffic or the environment, has brought serious consequences.

是啊，看来人都要吃了苦头才知道回头。前几年我们自己还天天想着买车呢。现在才知道还是公共交通好。
shìā ，kànlai rén dōu yào chī le kǔtou cái zhīdào huítóu 。qián jǐ nián wǒmen zìjǐ hái tiāntiān xiǎng zhe mǎichē ne 。xiànzài cái zhīdào hái shì gōnggòngjiāotōng hǎo 。
Right, it seems people must suffer a bit before they come to their senses. These past few years we ourselves dreamed every day about buying a car. Only now do we realize that public transportation was better after all.

Vocabulary

省	shěng	to save
私家车	sījiāchē	private car
后悔	hòuhuǐ	to regret
缓解	huǎnjiě	to ease
轨道	guǐdào	routes
四通八达	sìtōngbādá	to extend in all directions
盲目	mángmù	blindly
出行	chūxíng	to go out
无止境	wú zhǐjìng	to have no end, endless
苦头	kǔtou	suffering, bitterness
超大型城市	chāodàxíng chéngshì	metropolis
轨道交通	guǐdàojiāotōng	rail transport
交通状况	jiāotōng qíngkuàng	traffic conditions
确切	quèqiè	exact, precise
拥有权	tōngyǒuquán	ownership
转折	zhuǎnzhé	turn; change in views expressed
石油	shíyóu	oil
环境保护	huánjìng bǎohù	environmental protection
轻轨	qīngguǐ	rail
界限	jièxiàn	dividing line; limit