(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
The first-ever direct China-to-Britain freight train arrived in London last week.
It was the latest evidence of China's efforts to redevelop the "Silk Road" trade routes that once stretched from Asia to Europe.
The train arrived in London after an 18-day, 28,000-kilometer trip. It traveled from China through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France and then crossed under the English Channel. Inside the 68 containers were household goods, clothing, cloth, bags and suitcases.
Philippa Edmunds works at the British Campaign for Better Transport.
"This is twice as quick as sea, so it's got an important role there. And, as I said, it's much, much cleaner and cheaper than air freight -- I mean, it's 20 times less pollution than air freight."
But the train itself may be more important than the goods it was carrying. Observers say the trip had a political message: that China is developing new trade routes and new markets. Freight trains from China already bring goods to 15 European cities.
China needs to find more places to sell the goods it makes. That is the belief of Jie Yu of the London School of Economics.
"The domestic market in China now seems to be very much stagnated. So the Chinese are desperately looking for the new markets, and being able to absorb that excessive amount of production capacity. And obviously that freight train serves as a very good vehicle for the Chinese manufacturers and may help restore the business confidence inside China."
Jie Yu says Chinese leaders believe they can use trade to gain more influence in the world.
"History opened a new era. And China has shown its willingness much more to shoulder more responsibility on the global stage and try to become a kind of responsible leadership."
Another historic trip was taking place as the Chinese train arrived in London: Xi Jinping became the first Chinese president to attend the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. At the meeting, he spoke about the importance of globalization and free trade.
China's government made strong statements in support of free trade and globalization in the days after Donald Trump became president of the United States. Trump says China's trade policies have hurt the American economy. Some experts believe Xi's words were an answer to the new president's criticism of Chinese policies.
I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise.
词汇解析
1.freight n.货运
France derives 16% of revenue from air freight.
法国国家税收的16%来自于航空货运。
2.stagnate v.停滞不前
Industrial production is stagnating.
工业生产停滞不前。
3.desperately adv.拼命地，绝望地，极度地
They resisted desperately and won the battle.
他们拼命抵抗，终于打了胜仗。
4.era n.纪元，时代
...the nuclear era.
…核时代。
内容解析
1.At the meeting, he spoke about the importance of globalization and free trade.
speak about 谈及，提及，提到(相当于speak of)
Can you speak about this area?
你能对这个区域聊些什么吗？
Now, I would like to briefly speak about just two of these targets.
这里，我仅就其中两个方面的重要目标作简要说明。
2.Some experts believe Xi's words were an answer to the new president's criticism of Chinese policies.
answer to... 对……的回应/回答，回应……
There is only one answer to that.
那只有一个答案。
You must give a definite answer to the question. There's no getting round it.
你必须明确回答这个问题， 想绕是绕不过去的。
参考译文
上周，首辆由中国发往英国的直达货运列车抵达伦敦。
这是中国重新发展史上贯穿欧亚的“丝绸之路”贸易路线的最新壮举。
这辆列车在历时18天，行驶了2.8公里后抵达了伦敦。从中国出发后，该列车途径哈萨克斯坦、俄罗斯、白俄罗斯、波兰、德国、比利时和法国，随后穿越了英吉利海峡。列车共有68节车厢，载有日用品、服装、布匹、和箱包。
埃德蒙兹是“英国更好交通运输”的一名员工。
“这列车的速度是海运速度的两倍，因此它的作用十分重要。除此之外，我还提到过，它要比空运更洁净、更经济——准确地说，它所造成的空气污染比空运小20倍。”
但列车本身的意义比其所载货物更加重要。有观察家称，此次列车的首次运行传递了一个政治信号，即中国正在拓展新的贸易路线和市场。来自中国的货运列车已经将货物运到了15个欧洲城市。
中国要发掘更多的市场，销售中国制造。伦敦政治经济学院的于杰这样认为。
“中国本土的市场现在看来疲软不堪。所以中国人正在急切寻找新的市场，中国现在也有能力吸收大量生产力。显然，货运列车对中国制造商来说是绝佳的工具，或许还能助力重建国内商圈的信心。”
于杰说，中国领导人认为他们能通过贸易在世界范围内实现更强的影响力。
“历史开启了新时代。而中国也愈发展现出其愿意在国际舞台上承担更多的责任，并努力成为可靠的领导力量。”
而除了中英货运列车的开通外，另一个历史性的出访也步入世界眼帘：习近平主席成为第一位参加瑞士世界经济论坛的中国国家主席。在论坛上，习主席谈及了全球化和自由贸易的重要性。
在特朗普继任美国总统几天后，中国政府发表声明，强烈支持自由贸易和全球化。特朗普总统说，中国的贸易政策损害了美国经济。一些专家认为，习主席的话是对特朗普总统指摘中国政策的回应。
Christopher Jones-Cruise为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
