剑桥雅思14Test1雅思阅读passage2真题及翻译

剑桥雅思14Test1雅思阅读passage2真题+翻译

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below

The growth of bike-sharing schemes around the world

全球共享单车计划的发展

How Dutch engineer Luud Schimmelpennink helped to devise urban bike-sharing schemes

荷兰工程师 Luud Schimmelpennink如何帮助设计城市共享单车计划

A The original idea for an urban bike-sharing scheme dates back to a summer's day in Amsterdam in 1965. Provo, the organisation that came up with the idea, was a group of Dutch activists who wanted to change society. They believed the scheme, which was known as the Witte Fietsenplan, was an answer to the perceived threats of air pollution and consumerism. In the centre of Amsterdam, they painted a small number of used bikes white. They also distributed leaflets describing the dangers of cars and inviting people to use the white bikes. The bikes were then left unlocked at various locations around the city, to be used by anyone in need of transport.

A 城市共享单车计划的最初构想可以追溯到1965年阿姆斯特丹的一个夏日。提出这一想法的Povo是由一群想要改变社会的荷兰积极分子创建的一个组织。他们认为,这个被称为“白色单车计划”的方案是解决潜在的空气污染和消费主义的办法。在阿姆斯特丹市中心,他们将少量的二手自行车漆成了白色。他们还散发传单,宣传汽车的危险,并邀请人们使用这些白色单车。随后,他们将这些不上锁的自行车投放在城市各处,供有交通需要的人使用。

B Luud Schimmelpennink, a Dutch industrial engineer who still lives and cycles in Amsterdam, was heavily involved in the original scheme. He recalls how the scheme succeeded in attracting a great deal of attention - particularly when it came to publicising Provo's aims - but struggled to get off the ground. The police were opposed to Provo's initiatives and almost as soon as the white bikes were distributed around the city, they removed them. However, for Schimmelpennink and for bike-sharing schemes in general, this was just the beginning. 'The first Witte Fietsenplan was just a symbolic thing,' he says. 'We painted a few bikes white, that was all. Things got more serious when I became a member of the Amsterdam city council two years later.'

B 荷兰工业工程师 Luud Schimmelpennink如今仍在阿姆斯特丹生活并骑行,他曾经深度参与过这项初始计划。他仍然记得该计划是如何威功地吸引了大量关注——尤其是在宣传 Provo的目标时——但却难以落实。警方反对 Provo的倡议,这些白色单车刚被授放在城市各处,马上就被警方拖走。然而,对 Schimmelpennink和共享单车计划来说这仅仅是个开始。“最初的白色单车计划只是一个象征性的东西,”他说道。“我们把几辆自行车漆成了白色,仅此而已。两年后,当我成为阿姆斯特丹市议会的一员时,该计划就变得认真多了。

C Schimmelpennink seized this opportunity to present a more elaborate Witte Fietsenplan to the city council.‘My idea was that the municipality of Amsterdam would distribute 10,000 white bikes over the city, for everyone to use,' he explains.‘I made serious calculations. It turned out that a white bicycle - per person, per kilometre - would cost the municipality only 10% of what it contributed to public transport per person per kilometre.' Nevertheless, the council unanimously rejected the plan.‘They said that the bicycle belongs to the past. They saw a glorious future for the car,' says Schimmelpennink. But he was not in the least discouraged.

C 他抓住机会向市议会提出了一个更为详尽的白色单车计划。“我的想法是,阿姆斯特丹市政府在全市范国内投放100辆色单车,供所有人使用,他解释道。“我做过精蜜的计算,市政府对白色单车每人每公里的规入,只占其对公共文通每人每公里投的10%。然而,市议会一致否决了这一计划。他说:“他们说自行车属于过去,而汽车的美好未来就在眼前。”但他一点也不气馁。

D Schimmelpennink never stopped believing in bike-sharing, and in the mid-90s, two Danes asked for his help to set up a system in Copenhagen. The result was the world's first large-scale bike-share programme. It worked on a deposit:‘You dropped a coin in the bike and when you returned it, you got your money back.' After setting up the Danish system, Schimmelpennink decided to try his luck again in the Netherlands - and this time he succeeded in arousing the interest of the Dutch Ministry of Transport. 'Times had changed,' he recalls. 'People had become more environmentally conscious, and the Danish experiment had proved that bike-sharing was a real possibility.' A new Witte Fietsenplan was launched in 1999 in Amsterdam. However, riding a white bike was no longer free; it cost one guilder per trip and payment was made with a chip card developed by the Dutch bank Postbank. Schimmelpennink designed conspicuous, sturdy white bikes locked in special racks which could be opened with the chip card - the plan started with 250 bikes, distributed over five stations.

D Schimmelpennink从未怀疑过共享单车(计划)。90年代中期,两个丹麦人请他帮忙在哥本哈根建立一个单车系统。这是世界上个大型的共享单车项目。这个系统靠押金机制运行:“你授入一枚硬币使用单车,当你还车时,硬币会退还。”在丹麦单车系统建立后,他决定再回荷兰碰碰运气——这次他成功引起了荷兰交通部的兴趣。“时饣变了,”他回忆说。“人们的环保意识越来越强,而丹麦的试验证明了共享单车确实可行。”1999年,一项新的白色单车计划在阿姆斯特丹启动了。然而,白色单车不再免费;毎趟行程花费1荷兰盾,并且需要通过荷兰邮政银行( Postbank)开发的芯片付费。 Schimmelpennink设计了一款醒目且坚固的白色单车,这些车锁在特殊的停车架上,可以用芯片卡打开。该计划起先在5个站点投放了250辆白色单车。

E Theo Molenaar, who was a system designer for the project, worked alongside Schimmelpennink. 'I remember when we were testing the bike racks, he announced that he had already designed better ones. But of course, we had to go through with the ones we had.' The system, however, was prone to vandalism and theft. 'After every weekend there would always be a couple of bikes missing,' Molenaar says. 'I really have no idea what people did with them, because they could instantly be recognised as white bikes.' But the biggest blow came when Postbank decided to abolish the chip card, because it wasn't profitable. 'That chip card was pivotal to the system,' Molenaar says. 'To continue the project we would have needed to set up another system, but the business partner had lost interest.'

E 该项目的系统设计师 Theo Molenaar曾与 Schimmelpennink一起工作。“我记得我们测试停车架时,他说他已经有了更好的设计。但显然,当时我们必须一一试验这些设计。”然而,这套系统很容易遭到破坏和盗窃。“每个周末过后,总会有几辆自行车不见,” Molenaar说道。“我真的不知道人们要它来做什么,因为人们很容易认出来这是白色单车。”但的打击是邮政银行因没有利润而决定取消芯片卡服务。“芯片卡对这个系统至关重要,” Molenaar说道。“要继续这个项目,我们就需要建立另一个系统但我们的商业伙伴已经失去了兴趣。

F Schimmelpennink was disappointed, but - characteristically - not for long. In 2002 he got a call from the French advertising corporation JC Decaux, who wanted to set up his bike-sharing scheme in Vienna. 'That went really well. After Vienna, they set up a system in Lyon. Then in 2007, Paris followed. That was a decisive moment in the history of bike-sharing.' The huge and unexpected success of the Parisian bike-sharing programme, which now boasts more than 20,000 bicycles, inspired cities all over the world to set up their own schemes, all modelled on Schimmelpennink's. 'It's wonderful that this happened,' he says. 'But financially I didn't really benefit from it, because I never filed for a patent.'

F Schimmelpennink当时很失望,但是像往常一样,失望并没有持续很久。2002年,他接到法国广告公司 JC Decaux的电话, JC Decaux想在维也纳实施他的共享单车计划切都很顺利。维也纳之后,他们还在里昂建立了系统。2007年,巴黎紧随其后(也建立了系统)。那是共享单车历史上的决定性阶段。”巴黎共享单车计划取得了意想不到的巨大成功,它目前拥有超过2000辆自行车,这激励了世界各地的城市纷纷效仿Schimmelpennink的方案,建立自己的共享单车计划。“发生这样的事真是太好了,”他说道。“但我并没有真正从中获得利润,因为我从未申请过专利。”

G In Amsterdam today, 38% of all trips are made by bike and, along with Copenhagen, it is regarded as one of the two most cycle-friendly capitals in the world - but the city never got another Witte Fietsenplan. Molenaar believes this may be because everybody in Amsterdam already has a bike. Schimmelpennink, however, cannot see that this changes Amsterdam's need for a bike-sharing scheme. 'People who travel on the underground don't carry their bikes around. But often they need additional transport to reach their final destination.' Although he thinks it is strange that a city like Amsterdam does not have a successful bikesharing scheme, he is optimistic about the future. 'In the '60s we didn't stand a chance because people were prepared to give their lives to keep cars in the city. But that mentality has totally changed. Today everybody longs for cities that are not dominated by cars.'

G 如今在阿姆斯特丹,38%的出行是靠自行车完成的。它与哥本哈根一起被视为两个最支持自行车的首都城市。但阿姆斯特丹从没有实施另一个白色单车计划。 Molenaar认为,这可能是因为在阿姆斯特丹,每个人都已经拥有自行车。然而, Schimmelpennink认为这不影响阿姆斯特丹对共享单车计划的需求。“乘坐地铁的人不会随身携带自车。但是他们经常需要其他交通工具才能抵达最终目的地。”虽然他认为像阿姆斯特丹这样的城市没有成功的共享单车计划很奇怪,但他依然对未来保持乐观。“在60年代我们没有希望,那是因为人人都拼命想在城里开汽车。但大家的心态已经完全改变了,如今所有人都希望城市不要被汽车占据。

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