VOA标准英语2013--Train Connects North, South of ‘Africa’s Giant’ Nigeria

 

Train Connects North, South of ‘Africa’s Giant’ Nigeria

The train departs from Lagos - Nigeria’s largest city - every Friday at noon, or thereabouts. When we arrive at the station at 9 a.m., the ticket lines already are thick. 

When the journey begins, passengers sitting everywhere from the economy class to the private cabins appear eager about seeing Nigeria by train. Tickets cost between $12 and $30, and passenger Aisha Muhammad Shuaib said it’s cheaper than the bus and much safer than the roads.

“You know the roads are bad, sometimes armed robbers. That’s why I’m fearing the road. Because it happens to me. When I was coming from Kano to Lagos, I take the same bus with armed robbers. You can imagine? Eight armed robbers on the bus when we were heading to Lagos,” said Shuaib.

Few amenities¹

As we make our way out of town, passengers watch the tropical southern countryside pass by. In the first-class car and private cabins, however, there is no air conditioning. 

At every station-stop, locals hawk² sodas³, bags of water, nuts and fruit.

There are no stairs to board the train and no conductors yelling “All aboard." When the train starts moving, passengers scramble⁴ on. 

The train usually moves much slower than the promised maximum speed of 50 kilometers an hour. 

By nightfall we were still in the south.

Filled to capacity

The next morning the scenery has changed, and we are in the arid⁵ north. 

Despite the progress, the mood has darkened in the economy cabins. At every stop overnight, more and more passengers crammed⁶ in.

“I’ve been standing⁷ for five hours. Some of us have been standing for eight hours now,” said passenger Jimoh Kolawoe.

And as day two wears on, it only gets worse. By afternoon, the coach cabins are so packed that every bit of floor space is taken and luggage is piled in the bathrooms. 

We reach Kaduna about 6 o’clock - the time we were expecting to arrive in Kano, about 200 kilometers away. Security warns us we are now in a region known for violence.

“Kano is one of the most security dangerous areas and we need to be on our toes. We are on our optimum vigilance. As we go to Kano we watch out for every passenger that comes in,” said Benjamin Aletofa, one of those who provides train security.

Around 1:30 in the morning the train finally rolls into the dark Kano train station. After 37-and-a-half hours, in a city officials say is now the heart of the Boko Haram insurgency⁸, the exhausted⁹ passengers hit the road quickly.

Back on the train, staffers prepare for the ride back across Nigeria. 

1 amenities   

n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快

参考例句：

• The campsite is close to all local amenities. 营地紧靠当地所有的便利设施。
• Parks and a theatre are just some of the town's local amenities. 公园和戏院只是市镇娱乐设施的一部分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

3 sodas   

n.苏打( soda的名词复数 )；碱；苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• There are plenty of sodas in the refrigerator. 冰箱里有很多碳酸饮料。 来自辞典例句
• Two whisky and sodas, please. 请来两杯威士忌苏打。 来自辞典例句

4 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

5 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

6 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

9 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。