At midnight on November 1, a barrier rose on a new stretch of highway in western Hunan, and a line of cars moved forward. That small moment finished a very large job. The new section joined the last two pieces of the Hohhot-Beihai Expressway, and a road 2,803 kilometres long now runs without a break from the grassland of Inner Mongolia to the coast of Guangxi.
The numbers are simple but surprising. The road crosses six provinces or regions: Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan and Guangxi. It is the seventh of the eleven north-south expressways in the national plan. The piece that opened this week is only 57 kilometres long, yet it took years, because it had to cut through the Wuling Mountains. One bridge there hangs from cables over a river valley; one tunnel is over five kilometres long, through soft rock full of water.
Why does one long road matter to people who will never drive on it? First, it takes pressure off the older roads. The Baoji-Maoming, Erenhot-Guangzhou and Xuchang-Guangzhou expressways have carried heavy traffic for years. A new line means fewer hours lost behind a slow lorry and fewer accidents caused by tired drivers. Second, it changes the map of trade. Goods from central China now have a shorter route to the ports of the Beibu Gulf, and so a shorter route towards Southeast Asia.
There is a quieter effect too. A highway that reaches a small mountain county brings more than cars: it brings a choice. A farmer can send fresh fruit to a city before it spoils. A young person can work in a big city and still drive home for the weekend. A small hotel near a valley can find guests who would never have heard of the place.
China now has around 190,000 kilometres of expressway, the largest network of its kind in the world. Numbers like that are easy to forget. What the November night on the mountain shows is human: one more gap closed, one more family able to reach each other in a day.
Words to know:
- barrier (栏杆；关卡)
- coast (海岸)
- valley (山谷)
- lorry (卡车（英式）)
- spoil (变质；变坏)
- network (网络；路网)
- route (路线)
- pressure (压力)
长难句拆解 · why 引导的特殊疑问句作段落开头
主干：Why does one long road matter to people …? 特殊疑问句，主语是 one long road，谓语动词 matter 意为「要紧、有关系」。 who will never drive on it 是定语从句，修饰 people，关系代词 who 在从句中作主语；介词短语 on it 的 it 指 the road。 语法点一：matter 在此是不及物动词，不能用于被动语态，也不能说 be mattered；常见搭配是 matter to sb（对某人重要）。 语法点二：疑问句中有助动词 does，主句谓语动词要用原形 matter，不能写成 matters。 修辞作用：这一问句用来承上启下，先替读者说出心里的疑问，再逐条给出理由，是议论文常见的设问开头。 直译：一条长路，对永远不会开上它的人来说，为什么重要？
长难句拆解 · 介词短语作后置定语与虚拟语气定语从句
主干：A small hotel can find guests，主谓宾结构；near a valley 是介词短语作后置定语，修饰 hotel。 who would never have heard of the place 是定语从句，修饰 guests；关系代词 who 在从句中作主语。 语法点一：would never have heard 是虚拟语气形式（would + have done），表示假设条件不成立时「本来永远不会发生」的结果，比 will never hear 更委婉。 语法点二：hear of 意为「听说过」，与 hear from（收到某人来信）不同，两者常被混用。 直译：山谷边上的一家小旅馆，能招来那些原本永远不会听说这个地方的客人。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
雅思阅读最爱把原文换个说法再出题，下面每组左边是原文表达，右边是常见替换，先遮住右边自测。
- a road 2,803 kilometres long now runs without a break → a continuous highway of 2,800 kilometres now links the two ends / the route is now unbroken from north to south（强调全程贯通）
- it had to cut through the Wuling Mountains → it had to pass straight through the Wuling range / builders had to tunnel and bridge their way across the mountains（工程难度的表达）
- it takes pressure off the older roads → it relieves the burden on the existing highways / it eases the load carried by the old routes（分流减压）
- Goods from central China now have a shorter route to the ports → central cargo can now get to the harbours faster / products from the middle of the country have a quicker way to the sea（物流时效）
- it brings a choice → it offers people an option / it opens up possibilities（抽象好处的概括）
- A farmer can send fresh fruit to a city before it spoils → growers can get their fruit to market while it is still fresh / fresh produce can reach buyers before it goes bad（保鲜与时效）
- one more gap closed → one more missing link finished / another hole in the network filled in（补上最后一块拼图）
阅读自测 · 3 题
- 第二段：这次通车的那一段长约 57 公里，因为地形复杂修了很多年。（判断 T / F / NG）
- 文章说这条高速经过哪几个省区？北方起点在哪个省区？（简答）
- 根据第三段，新高速带来的第一个好处是什么？A. 票价下降 B. 为既有南北向高速分流 C. 沿线小旅馆数量增加 D. 货车限速提高
参考答案与解析
- T。第二段写 The piece that opened this week is only 57 kilometres long, yet it took years, because it had to cut through the Wuling Mountains，与题干一致。题干没有添加原文没有的原因或结果，属于正确的同义改写。
- 共六个：内蒙古、山西、河南、湖北、湖南、广西；北方起点在内蒙古自治区（呼和浩特）。只答「六个省」而不列举，属于信息不全。
- B。原文写 it takes pressure off the older roads，随后列举包茂、二广、许广三条既有南北通道。A、D 全文未提，属于无中生有；C 是第四段的内容，属于「位置错置」型干扰项——题目问第三段，选项却取自第四段。
中文译文
11 月 1 日零点，湘西一条新高速公路上的栏杆抬起，一列车队向前驶去。这小小的一幕，完成了一件很大的事。新路段把呼和浩特至北海高速的最后两块拼在了一起，一条长约 2803 公里的公路，如今从内蒙古的草原一直通到广西的海边，中间不再断开。
数字简单却令人意外。这条路穿过六个省区：内蒙古、山西、河南、湖北、湖南、广西。在国家规划的十一条南北向高速公路中，它排第七。这周通车的那一段只有 57 公里长，却修了好几年，因为它必须穿过武陵山区。那里有一座大桥用缆索悬在河谷之上，还有一条五公里多长的隧道，要从含水丰富的软岩里穿过去。
一条长路，对永远不会开上它的人来说，为什么重要？第一，它替老路分担了压力。包茂、二广、许广几条高速，多年来一直承担着沉重的车流。多一条线路，意味着被慢速货车挡在后面浪费的时间更少，因司机疲劳引发的事故也更少。第二，它改变了贸易的地图。中部地区的货物，现在有了更短的路线抵达北部湾港口，也因此有了一条通往东南亚的更近的路。
还有一种更安静的影响。一条通到山区小县城的公路，带来的不只是车，还带来一种选择。果农可以在水果坏掉之前把它送进城市。年轻人可以到大城市工作，周末还能开车回家。山谷边上的一家小旅馆，能等来那些原本永远不会听说这个地方的客人。
我国高速公路里程如今约有 19 万公里，是世界上规模最大的同类路网。这样的数字很容易被忘记。11 月那个山里的夜晚真正说明的事情，很朴素：又一处断口接上了，又有一家人能在一天之内彼此抵达。