Lewis要去美国芝加哥出差，想坐高铁去洛杉矶看家人，但同事Jay告诉他说，美国没有高铁，原因之一是坐飞机十分方便。
Lewis: So there’s been no incentive to build super fast trains.
Jay: Yeah, that’s right. Also, Americans like to drive.
L: I’ve noticed in a lot of movies that Americans seem to enjoy road trips.
J: I’m from San Francisco, and I have friends who live in Los Angeles.It’s a nine-or-10-hour drive, but I’ve done it many times. There’s no convenient public transport in L.A. so I would have to rent a car anyway. So I just load up my CD player with good music, grab some coffee and hit the road.
除了坐飞机，美国人还喜欢开车。They enjoy road trips. Road trips 就是开车去一个地方，边走边玩。Jay说，从加州旧金山开到洛杉矶，需要九到十个小时，他来回开过很多趟，每次都是准备了好听的音乐，带上咖啡，然后就上路了。 hit the road 是上路的意思，hit 在口语里，后面还经常跟 the gym, to hit the gym 就是去健身房。
L: So driving really is a part of American culture.
J: Yeah. Most of us get our first driver’s license when we are around 16 years old. I used to drive about an hour and a half to work every day – that’s three hours round-trip – and I didn’t think it was a big deal.
L: So aside from New York, there really isn’t much public transport infrastructure in the U.S.?
J: Many U.S. cities have some kind of light rail or subway system but except for New York, they don’t really completely cover the city in the same way as the Beijing or Shanghai subway does.
看来，开车还真是美国文化的一个重要部分。Jay说，美国孩子16岁左右就可以拿驾照。他以前每天开三个小时上下班，and he didn’t think it was a big deal. 而且也没觉得这有什么大不了的。 a big deal 经常在口语里出现。比如，It’s a big deal for me. 这对我很重要。What’s the big deal? 有那么严重吗？It’s no big deal. 没什么大不了的。美国的很多城市都有地铁火车，但是除了纽约以外，其他城市的公交系统都不像北京或是上海的地铁那么发达。
L: I think high-speed trains are great! They are safe, fast, quiet and convenient. You can work on your laptop or read a book…it’s a good way to relax.
J: That’s true…driving can be very stressful. Americans have been talking about building high-speed rail lines for years. But to be honest, I don’t know when or if it’s ever going to happen.
L: Well, I hope they start building them soon. But in any case…I’m going to have to look into flights to LA now.
J: Yep. And you’re probably gonna have to rent a car when you get there. Good luck and have a great trip!
L: Thanks Jay! See you in a couple weeks.
坐高铁可以放松，看看电脑读读书，不像开车，会让人 stressful 精神疲劳。不过没办法，Lewis 这次出差，如果想从芝加哥到洛杉矶去，就必须得 look into flights 看看坐哪趟班机了。