今日主題：Walking in London 漫步倫敦
康康精選GRE&GMAT會考的主題，堅持每天精讀一定會進步的哦!!
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http://xia2.kekenet.com/Sound/2015/…/ecow1228_3415166Mv6.mp3
只有音檔怎夠，聽不懂地方，不用怕，康康幫你準備好中英文稿了：
中英文稿：
Walking in London
漫步倫敦
Footfalls-- Urban pedestrians buck a national trend
腳步聲--倫敦步行者打破全國性趨勢
LONDON is a city made for walking.Unlike, for instance, Los Angeles its centre is easily accessible on foot.Outer boroughs are no more than an hour or two away.Its curved streets, in contrast to the rigid grid of New York, welcome idle wanderers and busy commuters alike.But despite traffic queues and teeming underground carriages most prefer to drive or to squeeze on to the Tube to get around the city.This is starting to change.
倫敦是個適合步行的城市。不像洛杉磯這樣的城市，倫敦市中心對步行者來說很方便。步行去外區也不會超過一兩個小時。倫敦蜿蜒的街道和紐約方正平直的街道形 成鮮明對比，迎接著悠閒的流浪漢和忙碌的上班族。儘管道路很堵、地鐵很擠，但大部分人還是喜歡駕車或擠地鐵在城市穿梭。這一切都將開始改變。
Between 2001 and 2011 the number of trips made daily on foot in London increased by 12%.Nearly a third of the Londoners sampled made a continuous walk of 30 minutes once a week between 2010 and 2011 to get from place to place, rather than for exercise.Each day 6.2m walks are made across the city.
2001年到2011年間，每天在倫敦步行的人數增長了12%。在此期間，被調查的倫敦人中有將近三分之一的人一個星期內至少有一次超過30分鐘的步行體驗，不是為了鍛煉身體，而是單純為了從一個地方到另一個地方。每天有620萬人在城市步行。
And both rich and poor walk a similar amount. In areas such as Kensington and Chelsea 11% walk for at least 30 minutes five times a week or more. In Tower Hamlets 12% of residents do. One of the largest changes in the city over the past decade is the number of pedestrians, says Michèle Dix of Transport for London (TfL), which runs the city's transport networks. On July 10th TfL launched the Roads Task Force, with plans to spruce up pavements.
在步行上，窮人和富人都差不多。在肯辛頓-切爾西區，11%的人一周內至少會有5次超過30分鐘的步行體驗。在陶爾哈姆萊茨區，有12%的居民也會這麼 做。倫敦交通局（負責倫敦交通網絡的運營）的蜜雪兒•迪克斯說，過去十年這座城市最大的變化是行人的數量。7月10日，倫敦交通局發動道路工作組，有計劃 地修繕人行道。
Several reasons account for the walking boom. The number of Londoners increased by 12% from 7.3m in 2001 to 8.2m in 2011, and Tube trains are broiling and overcrowded. But other factors also encourage pedestrians. In 2004 Ken Livingstone, then mayor of London, vowed to make London a “walkable city”. Some of his plans were carried on by Boris Johnson, the current mayor. These include a scheme to create clearly-marked maps for use across the city. Of 33 boroughs in London 22 now have the distinctive yellow-branded signs on their streets. All TfL-owned property (such as Tube stations and bicycle-hire points) is covered by the scheme. This deters tourists from popping on the Tube to travel one stop from Covent Garden to Leicester Square, a distance of 0.3m (0.5km) says Tony Armstrong of Living Streets, a charity for pedestrians.
行人的暴增有好幾個原因。從2001年的730萬到2011年的820萬，倫敦人口增長了12%，地鐵變得又熱又擠。但是其他幾個因素也在鼓勵著人們步 行。2004年，倫敦市長肯•利文斯通承諾把倫敦建成一座步行城市。他的一些計畫被現任市長伯里斯•詹森繼續執行。倫敦33個區中的22個在街道上樹立了 獨特的黃色標誌牌。倫敦交通局所有的財產（比如地鐵和租車點）都包含在計畫之內。Living Streets（一個為行人設立的慈善機構）的托尼•阿姆斯壯說，這打消了遊客從科芬園到萊斯特廣場這一站路（僅500米）也要乘坐地鐵的念頭。
Streets are also becoming more pedestrian-friendly. Exhibition Road in South Kensington was redeveloped in 2011.Pavement curbs were removed and tarmac replaced by granite bricks. Fewer cars now go down the road, which stretches from Hyde Park to the museums and restaurants around the station, encouraging swarms of pedestrians. In June plans to develop a walkway by the Thames in Vauxhall were announced, turning a neglected part of London into something resembling the High Line in New York (which transformed a disused railway track into a lively public garden).
步行也變得越來越方便。南肯辛頓的會展路于2011年重新開發。路邊石被移除，柏油路也被花崗石路面代替。車站附近這條從海德公園延生到博物館和餐館的路 上車子更少了，這也有利於人們步行。六月，一系列將位於泰晤士河邊沃克斯豪爾工廠內的一條走道建成類似于紐約高線公園（一個充滿生氣的公園，由一條廢棄的 鐵路改造而成）的計畫正式宣佈。
Londoners may also be more aware of the advantages of walking. Health campaigns like the NHS's “Live Well” emphasise that walking is the easiest form of exercise. Rubber wristband pedometers, such as “FitBit” and “FuelBand”, are also increasingly popular.
倫敦人也可能更清楚走路的好處。像NHS（英國國家醫療服務體系）“Live Well”這樣的健康宣傳活動都在強調走路是最簡單的一種鍛煉方式。“FitBit”和“FuelBand”這些品牌的橡膠腕帶計步器也越來越受歡迎。
But the capital is bucking the national trend. Although in 2011 walking was up across the country, it has seen an overall decline of 27% in Britain since 1995.This is partly caused by fewer children walking to school. And while rural rambles are still popular, fewer people are walking to their weekly grocery shop. Many more are shopping online. Local authorities want to change this. Pedestrians spend an average of ￡373 ($571) a month, compared with ￡226 for drivers, according to data from TfL.Ailing high streets and town centres need to win back walkers. Learning from London's incentives would be a start.
但是，發生在首都的這一切與全國趨勢不符。雖然2011年全國步行的人數有所上漲，但總體來說卻比1995年減少了27%。部分原因可能是走路去上學的孩 子更少了。在農村走路仍然很常見，但每週走路去雜貨店買東西的人卻變少了。更多的人選擇網上購物。地方政府想要改變這種狀況。倫敦交通局的資料表明，步行 者平均每月花費373英鎊（571美元），而駕車者每月只花226英鎊。狀況不佳的商業大街和城鎮中心應該贏回這些步行者。學習來自倫敦的激勵機制將是個 開端。
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