On September 28, four new high-speed rail lines will open in China on the same day. They cross the north, the west and the middle of the country. For people who live along these lines, the change is easy to feel: a trip that once took a whole day may soon take less than two hours.
The longest line is the Xiongan-Shangqiu section of the Beijing-Hong Kong high-speed railway. It is 552 kilometres long, and trains can run at 350 kilometres per hour. When it opens, the trip from Xiongan to Shangqiu will take about two hours and twenty-seven minutes. More than ten new stations are in small counties, so places such as Renqiu and Yuncheng will have high-speed rail for the first time.
Three other lines are shorter but no less important. The Harbin-Yichun line in the far north-east is 318 kilometres long and reaches China’s northernmost high-speed rail station. The Xi’an-Ankang line crosses the Qinling Mountains, cutting the trip to just 45 minutes. The Yichang-Xingshan line links two big rail corridors and shortens the Wuhan-Chongqing journey by about one hour.
Building these lines was not easy. The Yichang-Xingshan line runs through mountains, and more than 90 percent of it is bridges and tunnels. One tunnel is over sixteen kilometres long and lies deep under the ground, with high gas and high temperatures inside. Workers spent years solving these problems before the first train could run.
Rail experts say the real meaning is not only speed. When small counties join the network, they stop being the end of the road and become points on the map that connect to everything else. Young people can look for work in a bigger city and still go home for the weekend. That is what a shorter journey really offers.
Words to know:
- section (路段，区段)
- corridor (通道，干线)
- county (县)
- tunnel (隧道)
- network (网络，路网)
- shorten (缩短)
- journey (行程，旅程)
- expert (专家)
长难句拆解 · with 复合结构作状语
原句：One tunnel is over sixteen kilometres long and lies deep under the ground, with high gas and high temperatures inside.
主干：One tunnel is long and lies under the ground. 结构：and 连接两个并列谓语 is over sixteen kilometres long 和 lies deep under the ground。句末 with high gas and high temperatures inside 是 with 复合结构，即 with + 宾语 + 介词短语，作状语补充说明隧道内部的环境。 语法点：with 复合结构相当于一个简化的定语从句，这里等于 which has high gas and high temperatures inside。它能在不加从句的情况下补一层信息，是写作中很省力的句型。 直译：有一条隧道长逾16公里，深埋地下，内部存在高瓦斯和高地温。
再看一句：More than ten new stations are in small counties, so places such as Renqiu and Yuncheng will have high-speed rail for the first time. 主干：More than ten new stations are in small counties, so places will have high-speed rail. 结构：so 连接结果分句，表示「因此」。such as Renqiu and Yuncheng 是插入语，举例说明 places，去掉后句子依然完整。for the first time 是时间状语。 直译：十多座新车站设在县城里，所以任丘、郓城这样的地方将第一次拥有高铁。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
同一个意思，原文和题干常用不同的词表达，认得出替换就等于认得出答案。
- open on the same day → start service on the same date / begin running together（同日开通）
- a trip that once took a whole day → a journey that used to take all day（过去要花一整天的路程）
- can run at 350 kilometres per hour → has a top speed of 350 km/h（时速350公里）
- will have high-speed rail for the first time → will be connected to the rail network for the first time（首次接入高铁网）
- cutting the trip to just 45 minutes → reducing the journey to only 45 minutes（把行程缩短到45分钟）
- the real meaning is not only speed → what matters most is more than speed（意义不只在于速度）
- stop being the end of the road → are no longer the last stop on the line（不再处于线路末端）
阅读自测 · 3 题
- 判断题：根据第二段，雄安至商丘段全长 552 公里。请判断 True / False / Not Given。
- 简答题：According to paragraph 3, how long does the trip from Xi’an to Ankang take after the new line opens?
- 选词填空（从 tunnel、county、network、corridor 中选）：More than ten new stations are in small ____, and the Yichang-Xingshan line has a ____ over sixteen kilometres long.
参考答案与解析
- True。第二段 It is 552 kilometres long 与题干直接对应。干扰项套路是「偷换单位」：文中另有 trains can run at 350 kilometres per hour，350 是时速而不是长度，把它当成里程就是典型的张冠李戴。
- 45 minutes。第三段 The Xi’an-Ankang line crosses the Qinling Mountains, cutting the trip to just 45 minutes 给出答案。注意题干问的是西安到安康；同段还写了武汉到重庆缩短约一小时，若把两个数字对调，就把两条线的数据混在了一起。
- counties；tunnel。第一空对应第二段 More than ten new stations are in small counties；第二空对应第四段 One tunnel is over sixteen kilometres long。network 和 corridor 都在文中出现过，但都不是这两处的答案，属于「原文有词、位置不对」型干扰项。
中文译文
9月28日，四条新的高铁线路将在同一天开通。它们横跨中国的北部、西部和中部。对于沿线居民来说，变化很容易感受到：过去要花上一整天的路程，很快可能用不了两小时。
最长的一条是京港高铁雄安至商丘段。它全长552公里，列车时速可达350公里。开通后，从雄安到商丘大约需要2小时27分钟。十多座新车站设在县城里，所以任丘、郓城这样的地方将第一次拥有高铁。
另外三条线路更短，但同样重要。位于东北边陲的哈伊高铁全长318公里，通向中国最北端的高铁车站。西康高铁穿越秦岭，把行程缩短到仅仅45分钟。宜兴高铁连接两条高铁大通道，让武汉到重庆的行程缩短约一小时。
修建这些线路并不容易。宜兴高铁穿行于崇山峻岭之间，全线超过90%是桥梁和隧道。其中一条隧道长逾16公里，深埋地下，内部存在高瓦斯和高地温。工人们花了数年时间解决这些问题，第一列火车才得以开行。
铁路专家说，真正的意义不只是速度。当小县城接入路网，它们不再是路的尽头，而成为地图上与其它一切相连的节点。年轻人可以去更大的城市找工作，周末照样能回家。这才是「路程变短」真正带来的东西。