Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What was the mistake the author made?

    We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual. After years of conditioning, most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables. Ships may be delayed by storms; flights may be cancelled because of bad weather, but trains must be on time. Only an exceptionally heavy snowfall might temporarily dislocate railway services. It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong. The truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs.
    After consulting my railway timetable, I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven. It went direct from my local station and the journey lasted mere hour and seventeen minutes. When I boarded the train, I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well. At the time, this did not strike me as odd. I reflected that there must be a great many local people besides myself who wished to take advantage of this excellent service. Neither was I surprise when the train stopped at Widley, a tiny station a few miles along the line. Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals. But when the train dawdled at station after station, I began to wonder, It suddenly dawned on me that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour, but barely chugging along at thirty. One hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance. I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, but he had not even heard of it. I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived. Two hours later, I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven. When he denied the train's existence, I borrowed his copy of the timetable. There was a note of triumph in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white. Glancing at it briefly, he told me to look again. A tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page. It said: 'This service has been suspended.'

New words and expressions 生词和短语

     express
n.   快车；
adj. 高速的

     punctual
adj. 准时的

     condition
v.   使习惯于

     unshakable
adj. 不可动摇的

faith
n. 信任

     cancel
v.   取消

     exceptionally
adv. 例外地

     dislocate
v.   打乱（计划等）

     blame
v.   责怪

     consult
v.   请教，查阅

     direct
adv. 径直地

     odd
adj. 奇怪的，异常的

     reflect
v.   细想

     advantage
n.   优势

     mighty
adj. 强大的，有力的

     dawdle
v.   慢吞吞地动或做

     chug
v.   咔嚓咔嚓地响

     lodge
v.   提出

     complaint
n.   抱怨

     triumph
n.   胜利

     asterisk
n.   星号（*）

     conduct
v.   引向，引导

参考译文

    我们已经习惯于相信火车总是准点的。经过多年的适应，大多数人对火车时刻表产生了一种不可动摇的信念。轮船船期可能因风暴而推延，飞机航班可能因恶劣天气而取消，唯有火车必然是准点的。只有非同寻常的大雪才可能暂时打乱铁路运行。因此，一旦铁路上真出了问题，人们便不加思索地责备铁路当局。事实上，差错很可能是我们自己，而不是铁路当局的。
    我查看了列车时刻表，满意地了解到有一趟去威斯特海温的快车。这是趟直达车，旅途总共才需1小时17分钟。上车后，我不禁注意到许多当地人也上了车。一开始，我并不感到奇怪，我想除我之外，想利用快车之便的也一定大有人在。火车开出几英里即在一个小站威德里停了下来。对此，我不觉得奇怪，因为即便是特别快车也可能被信号拦住。但是，当火车一站接着一站往前蠕动时，我便产生了怀疑。我突然感到这趟快车并没以时速90英里的速度呼啸前进，而是卟哧卟哧地向前爬行，时速仅30英里。1小时17分过去了，走了还不到一半路程。我问一位乘客，这是不是开往威斯特海温的那趟快车，他说从未听说过有这么一趟快车。我决定到目的地就给铁路部门提意见。两小时后，我气呼呼地同威斯特海温站站长说起此事。他说根本没有这趟车。于是我借他本人的列车时刻表，我带着一种胜利者的调子告诉他那趟车白纸黑字。明明白白印在时刻表上。他迅速地扫视了一眼，让我再看一遍。一个小小的星形符号把我的目光引到了那页底部一个说明上。上面写着：“此趟列车暂停运行。”

New words and expression 生词和短语

1. Express  n.快车；a..高速的

Express way 高速公路 /  Express train快车

Stopping/local train慢车

Special express特快 /  Through express 直快

2. Punctual  a. 准时的( = neither early nor late )

Be punctual in doing sth        在做。。。事方面相当准时

--In the modern society, we must be punctual in what we are doing .

Be punctual to the minute     非常的准时

--He is a man who is punctual to the minute. 

副词：Punctually

反义词：Unpunctual

名词：　Punctuality

3. Condition  vt.使习惯于(=Form a habit in)

--Society has conditioned each one of us.    这个社会已经使我们大家都适应了。

Be condition to

--Each one of us has been conditioned to society.

--the plants have been conditioned to the cold weather here.. ( plant 做主语)

--The cold weather has conditioned the plants here. (cold weather 做主语)

n. 条件

on condition that    在……条件下如果

on no condition      在任何情况下都不 (用在句首句子必须采用倒装)

--On no condition must you be late.   在任何情况下都不能迟到。

in good/bad condition情况良好(不好)

change one’s condition 结婚

in the interesting condition 怀孕=pregnant

4. unshakable    a. 不可动摇的

5. faith    n.信任=strong belief/trust 深信不疑，信仰，信心

keep faith with sb   对某人守信用

put one’s faith in sth      对……有信心

on the faith of       在……保证下，凭……信用

词汇比较：

faith   深信不疑，信仰(比belief 程度更重一些)

belief  可信赖，可接受  conviction坚定的信念   trust 相信，依赖

credit 完全相信  --I have full credit in your ability to do this job.

6. cancel  v.取消

--we have to cancel the appointment.

词汇比较：

Call off    取消，解除 (可以替换cancel)

Abolish  废除  --The law was abolished.

Rescind  撤销，废止,比abolish正式

Write off  注销，勾销  --Write off the name. 注销这个名字。

Cross out  划掉   --The word here is useless, please cross it out.

7. exceptionally    adv. 例外地

8. dislocate  v. 打乱(计划等)

9. blame  v. 责怪

10. consult  v.请教，查阅

11. direct  adv.径直地

12. odd a.奇怪的，异常的

13 reflect   vt细想，深思熟虑=consider carefully

Reflect on sth  --He’s reflecting on his idea.

Reflect upon oneself     反省  --Sometimes we need reflect upon ourselves.

第二种意思： 反射  --She looks at herself reflected in the water.

14. Advantage     n.优势,长处  

Take advantage of sb       欺骗某人并利用

Take advantage of sth      利用某事 --We must take advantage of  what we can use.

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