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新概念英语第三册课文翻译及学习笔记：
Lesson44
【课文】
People
travelling long distances frequently have to
decide whether they would prefer to go
by land, sea, or air.
Hardly anyone can
positively enjoy sitting in a train for
more than a few hours. Train
compartments soon get cramped
and
stuffy. It is almost impossible to take your mind
off the
journey. Reading is only a
partial solution, for the
monotonous
rhythm of the wheels clicking on the rails soon
lulls you to sleep. During the day,
sleep comes in snatches.
At night, when
you really wish to go to sleep, you rarely
manage to do so. If you are lucky
enough to get a sleeper,
you spend half
the night staring at the small blue light in
the ceiling, or fumbling to find your
ticket for inspection.
Inevitably you
arrive at your destination almost exhausted.
Long car journeys are even less
pleasant, for it is quite
impossible
even to read. On motorways you can, at least,
travel fairly safely at high speeds,
but more often than not,
the greater
part of the journey is spent on roads with few
service stations and too much traffic.
By comparison, ferry
trips or cruises
offer a great variety of civilized comforts.
You can stretch your legs on the
spacious decks, play games,
meet
interesting people and enjoy good food--always
assuming,
of course, that the sea is
calm. If it is not, and you are
likely
to get seasick, no form of transport could be
worse.
Even if you travel in ideal
weather, sea journeys take a long
time.
Relatively few people are prepared to sacrifice up
to a
third of their holidays for the
pleasure of travelling by sea.