Unit_6_Travel_Around_the_World课文翻译大学体验英语三

1、 Unit 6 Travel Around the WorldPassage AThe Woman Taxi Driver In CairoHer name is Nagat. I first saw her outside Cairo's airport terminal. A woman taxi driver - the only woman, for that matter, among a large crowd of her male counterparts. Do you know what it is lik

2、e to arrive in a strange city in the middle of the night? Nobody, not even a ray of sunshine is here to greet you. When I walk out of the terminal, I am facing the crowd of taxi drivers milling about in front of every airport the world over. Here in Cairo, it is large and noisy. "Taxi!" &q

3、uot;You want taxi?" I hear all round me. I feel a firm hand holding my left arm. "You want taxi, follow me," the woman says. She doesn't ask, she simply pulls me through the crowd. I follow her willingly. There is this moment when a tourist, particularly a woman, simply has to tru

4、st someone. We stop at a worn car. It has seen a better day, there are quite a few scrapes on its body, the tires are bald and there is a crack in the windshield. But it is a car for hire, and the woman will personally drive me. I breathe a sigh of relief when she puts my bag into the trunk, locks i

5、t and gets behind the wheel. "I will drive you, don't worry," she says. Nagat, as she now explains to me, works as a taxi driver several days and nights a week. She has another job, working in an office, but details of it remain vague. The little old car is not hers; it belongs to a bo

6、ss from whom she in turn rents it whenever she can. She has been a driver ever since her husband died some ten years earlier and left her with two teenage kids and her parents to support. She knows every nook and cranny in and around Cairo - no easy feat. Cairo with its complex system of streets and

7、 lanes, its quarters and markets is like a labyrinth invented by ancient storytellers. Hundreds of mosques - many of which are masterpieces of Islamic architecture, old neighborhoods with houses boxed together, huge apartment buildings on the outskirts and the Nile calmly running through it; all are

8、 part of this overcrowded city. With a mild sense of humor around a deep core of understanding of human nature, Nagat takes control of my sightseeing schedule. Every morning punctually at nine o'clock, I can depend on seeing her short, solid frame outside the hotel lobby, her round face turning

9、into a big smile as soon as she sees me coming down the stairs. Most every day, she wears an earth tone-colored Jellaba. Her movements are energetic and she doesn't waste any time. Her determined approach seems to have grown on a bed of economy, on the necessity to get as much done as she possib

10、ly can. What becomes clear to me soon as she drives me from museum to pyramid, from one part of town to the opposite, is this: she is a true exception here. Wherever we stop, be it for a cup of tea during a break or upon arriving at a historical site where her male colleagues gather in the parking a

11、rea - everywhere, she is being noticed. Men walk up to her in the car with questioning faces. As she tells me, they all have one question first of all: "Are you a taxi driver?" She then explains in a few short sentences, and I see the men's faces soften, smile and respectfully and kind

12、ly chat with her. This scene repeats itself over and over again. I get the sense that she invites goodwill from the people she meets. Nagat is proud and independent. One day, as I find her waiting outside a museum, she is just taking a spare tire out of the trunk of the taxi. One of the bald tires h

13、ad finally gone flat, and she was going to change it herself. Several curious people gather around her and she receives offers of help - but no, she wants no part of that. In her efficient, deliberate manner, she changes the tire, and having done so, washes her hands with bottled water, gets in the

14、taxi and asks "Where to now?" Should you find yourself at Cairo's airport, look for Nagat outside the international arrival hall. If you are lucky, you will have a chance to see Cairo through the eyes of a woman taxi driver. 开罗的女出租车司机她叫娜格特。我第一次见到她是在开罗机场。一个女出租车司机在一大群男伙伴中唯一干这一行的女性。你知道在深夜

15、到达一个陌生的城市是一种什么感受吗？没有任何人，甚至没有一缕来迎接你。当我步出机场时，迎面而来的是成群的出租车司机在全世界所有的机场都有众多出租车司机四处转悠。在开罗，出租司机人更多，更喧闹。“出租车！”“你要出租车吗？”我耳边充斥着这些声音。我感到一只有力的手抓住了我的左臂。“你需要出租车，跟我来！”那个女人说。她什么都没有问，只是拉着我穿过人群。我顺从地跟着她。一个旅游者，特别是一个妇女，有些时候就不得不信赖某个人。我们来到一辆破旧的小车前。这辆车的风光已过如今车身上有不少擦伤，轮胎磨得光秃秃的，挡风玻璃上还有一道裂缝。但它的确是一辆出租车。而且这个女人将亲自开车送我。她把我的包搬进行箱，

16、上好锁，然后坐在驾驶座上。这时我才松了一口气。“我会开车送你。别担心，”她说。娜格特向我解释说，她每周开几个昼夜的出租车。她另有一份工作，在办公室任职，但语焉不详。这辆破旧的小车不是她的，而是一个老板的。只要有可能，她就向他租来开。自从十来年前她丈夫撒手人寰，留下两个十多岁的孩子和她的双亲之后，她就一直开出租车养家糊口。她熟知开罗的每一个角落这并非一日之功。开罗迷宫般的大街小巷、居民区、集市所构成的复杂体系，宛如古代说书人编造的迷津。数百座清真寺其中许多是伊斯兰建筑的精华，紧紧挤在一起的的老街区，郊外巨大的公寓楼群，静静流淌的尼罗河穿城而过所有这些组成了这座过于拥挤的城市。娜格特熟谙人情，略带

17、幽默。她全权负责我的观光日程安排。每天早上9点正，我都能看见她矮壮的身影准时出现在旅馆大厅外。每当她瞥见我走下楼梯，她圆圆的脸上马上会绽放出灿烂的笑容。几乎每天她都穿着一件土黄色的带风帽的斗蓬。她动作利索，从不浪费任何时间。她做事果断似乎是由于经济条件所迫而养成的习惯，不得不尽可能多做些事情。随着她开车带我从博物馆到金字塔，从城市的一端到另一端，我很快就发现她卓尔不群。每当我们停下来，喝一杯茶小憩或到达一个历史景点-在这些地方的停车场总是男出租车司机云集之处-无论何处，她总是引人注目。男人们走向她的车，脸上充满了疑惑。正如她告诉我的那样，他们首先都会问?quot;你是开出租车的吗？"

18、经过她简短的解释，我看见那些男人脸色缓和下来，微笑着，尊重而和善地与她聊天。这种场面多次出现。我感觉到，她总是能赢得遇到她的人的友情。娜格特自尊并自立。有一天，我看见她在博物馆外等我的时候，从出租车行箱里取出备用轮胎-有一个磨秃的轮胎终于瘪了-准备自己换轮胎。几个好奇的旁观者围上来，还有人愿意帮忙-但是不，她不需要任何人帮忙。她麻利而从容地换好了轮胎，用瓶装水洗过手，然后坐进车里，问我："现在去哪儿？"如果你有机会去开罗机场，记得到国际迎客厅外去找她。如果你幸运的话，你就有机会通过一个女出租车司机的眼睛去看看开罗。Passage BA Russian&#

19、160;ExperienceIt was almost midnight, yet the streets were bathed in a soft, shimmering light. The sun had just gone down and twilight would soon give way to night. We were strolling along the Nevsky Prospekt, a wide avenue stretching four kilometres and filled with people, music and street entertai

20、ners. This was St Petersburg in August and it seemed the city was out to celebrate the long summer nights. We had just left the home of newly found Russian friends and after a wonderful traditional dinner decided to have some exercise before going to bed. It has always been my dream to visit St Pete

21、rsburg. Absorbed by Russian history since childhood, I wanted to see it all for myself. Now, thanks to Perestroika, tourists are welcomed into Russia and St Petersburg with its rich, cultural history is a popular choice. We flew in from Stockholm and from the air immediately noticed a well-planned c

22、ity with apartment blocks built in semi-circles with central courtyards and gardens. Not only did this seem practical, but the idea behind the design was to shelter residents from the fierce winter winds. The city was built by European architects in the 18th and 19th centuries and remains one of Eur

23、ope's most beautiful cities. Straddling the wide River Neva, the city is made up of almost 50 islands connected by some 310 bridges. No wonder the sight of elegant buildings along the canals reminded me of Paris, Amsterdam and Venice. I hadn't met many Russian people but I had an intense lov

24、e for their country and traditions and was passionate about art and literature. Russian writers such as Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky reach the very soul of ordinary Russians, and this I find intriguing. It was no different when I finally found myself in Russia. People were openly friendly and ea

25、ger to discuss any aspect of their lives in their beloved Motherland. No matter how bad the economy, somehow these people have the ability to see the positive aspects of their lives, whatever their circumstances. We met an attractive woman from Moscow, and we fast became friends and it was she who i

26、nvited us into the home of some dear friends of hers. The apartment block was in an elegant area of St Petersburg and was probably a palace in the past but now converted into apartments of four floors. The entrance through a narrow hallway was dark and dull and there was an old fashioned lift on the

27、 ground floor with steel folding gates that clanged shut, after which the lift moved very slowly upwards. It was quicker to walk up the staircase. Our host, Yuri Petrochenkov, himself an artist, warmly greeted us at the door. He was tall with gray hair pulled into a tail. His open, friendly manner a

28、nd twinkling eyes showed a sense of humor and his English with a thick accent made him an entertaining host. Nelly, his wife, spoke little English but understood a great deal more. We were ushered into their main room, which served as a living-room, dining room and TV area. There was an air of intim

29、acy in the room, as though it was the core part of this family. Many parties, social and political discussions and family gatherings take place here. We were honored to be there and I felt ashamed that I had absolutely no Russian language to attempt to communicate in. Why is it that people of the En

30、glish-speaking world take for granted that the rest of the world should speak English? I had always meant to learn Russian and had enrolled for courses in the past but they never started because of lack of numbers. Our meal was a feast in itself. We weren't offered wine, just vodka in little sho

31、t glasses and before drinking there is always a toast. Some nine vodkas later, Yuri was in fine form and had found a drinking partner in my husband! Wandering along the river, we agreed that not only had we found new friends, but we had just spent probably the most enjoyable experience of our trip t

32、o Russia. This is what travel is all about - to get to the heart and soul of the people and to try to understand and experience a little of what makes others tick. 亲历俄罗斯几近午夜了，街道还沐浴在柔和的暮色微光之中。夕阳刚刚西下，黄昏过后夜幕即将降临。我们正漫步在涅夫斯基大街上。这是一条绵延4公里的宽阔大道，行人和街头艺人熙熙攘攘，音乐声不绝于耳。这就是八月的圣彼得堡。人们似乎倾城而出，庆祝这漫漫的夏日长夜。我们刚离开新结识的俄罗斯朋友的家。在享用了一顿丰盛的传统晚餐之后，我们决定就寝前稍稍活动一下。到圣彼得堡一游一直是我的梦想。童年时我就沉迷于俄罗斯历史，一直希望能够亲眼目睹它的风采。现在，多亏了改革政策，俄罗斯才向观光者开了双