wet winter nights. few things could be more impressive than the peace that descends on deserted city streets at weekends when the thousands that travel to work every day are tucked away in their homes in the country. it has always been a mystery to me who city dwellers, who appreciate all these things, obstinately pretend that they would prefer to live in the country.

new words and expressions 生词和短语

illusion

n. 幻想，错觉

pastoral

adj. 田园的

breed (bred, bred)

v. 培育

rapture

n. 欣喜

extol

v. 赞美，颂扬

superior

adj. 优越的

cockcrow

n. 鸡叫

twitter

v. （鸟）吱吱叫，嘁嘁喳喳叫

glint

v. 闪烁

pasture

n. 牧场

idyllic

adj. 田园诗的

virtually

adv. 几乎，差不多

dubious

adj. 可疑的，怀疑的

privilege

n. 特权

misery

n. 苦难

acquaintance

n. 熟人

treat

n. 难得的乐事，享受

dweller

n. 居住者

stagger

v. 摇晃，蹒跚

exotic

adj. 导乎寻常的，外来的

glow

n. 白炽光

descend

v. 缩进，隐藏

descend

v. 缩进，隐藏

obstinately

adv. 固执地，顽固地

参考译文

宁静的乡村生活从来没有吸引过我。我生在城市，长在城市，总认为乡村是透过火车车窗看到的那个样了，或偶尔周末去游玩一下景象。我的许多朋友都住在城市，但他们只要一提起乡村，马上就会变得欣喜若狂。尽管他们都交口称赞宁静的乡村生活的种种优点，但其中只有一个人真去农村住过，而且不足6个月就回来了。即使他也仍存有幻觉，好像乡村生活就是比城市生活优越。他滔滔不绝地大谈友好的农民，洁净的空气，贴近大自然的环境和悠闲的生活节奏。他坚持认为，凌晨雄鸡第一声啼叫，黎明时分小鸟吱喳欢叫，冉冉升起的朝阳染红树木、牧场，此番美景无与伦比。但这种田园诗般的乡村风光仅仅是一个侧面。我的朋友没有提到在电视机前度过的漫长寂寞的冬夜——电视是唯一的娱乐形式。他也不说商店货物品种单调，以及那些每天不得不从乡下赶到城里工作的不幸的人们。人们为什么情愿每天在路上奔波4个小时去换取值得怀疑的乡间的优点，我是无法理解的。要是他们愿意住在本来属于他们的城市，则可以让他们省去诸多不便与节约大量开支。

如果你愿舍弃乡下生活那一点点乐趣的话，那么你会发出城市可以为你提供生活最美好的东西。你去看朋友根本不用跋涉好几英里，因为他们都住在附近，你随时可以同他们聊天或在晚上一起娱乐。我在乡村有一些熟人，他们每年进城来看一回或几回戏，并把此看作一种特殊的享受。看戏在他们是件大事，需要精心计划。当戏快演完时，他们又为是否能赶上末班火车回家而犯愁。这种焦虑，城里人是从未体验过的。坐公共汽车几站路，就可看到最新的展览、电影、戏剧。买东西也是一种乐趣。物品种繁多，从来不必用二等品来凑合。乡里人进城采购欣喜若狂，每次回家时都买足了外来商品，直到拿不动方才罢休，连走路都摇摇晃晃的。城市也并非没有良辰美景。寒冷潮湿的冬夜里，广告灯箱发出的暖光，会给人某种安慰。周末，当成千上万进城上班的人回到他们的乡间寓所之后，空旷的街市笼罩着一种宁静气氛，没有什么能比此时的宁静更令人难忘了。城里人对这一切心里很明白，却偏要执拗地装出他们喜欢住在乡村的样子，这对我来说一直是个谜。

lesson 42

modern cavemen

现代洞穴人

listen to the tape then answer the question below.

听录音，然后回答以下问题。

with what does the writer compare the gouffre berger?

cave exploration, or pot-holing, as it has come to be known, is a relatively new sport. perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures people down to the depths of the earth. it is impossible to give a satisfactory explanation for a pot-holer's motives. for him, caves have the same peculiar fascination which high mountains have for the climber. they arouse instincts which can only be dimly understood.

exploring really deep caves is not a task for the sunday afternoon rambler. such undertakings require the precise planning and foresight of military operations. it can take as long as eight days to rig up rope ladders and to establish supply bases before a descent can be made into a very deep cave. precautions of this sort are necessary, for it is impossible to foretell the exact nature of the difficulties which will confront the pot-holer. the deepest known cave in the world is the gouffre berger near grenoble. it extends to a depth of 3,723 feet. this immense chasm has been formed by an underground stream which has tunneled a course through a flaw in the rocks. the entrance to the cave is on a plateau in the dauphine alps. as it is only six feet across, it is barely noticeable. the cave might never have been discovered has not the entrance been spotted by the distinguished french pot-holer, berger. since its discovery, it has become a sort of potholers' everest. though a number of descents have been made, much of it still remains to be explored.

a team of pot-holers recently went down the gouffre berger. after entering the narrow gap on the plateau, they climbed down the steep sides of the cave until they came to narrow corridor. they had to edge their way along this, sometimes wading across shallow streams, or swimming across deep pools. suddenly they came to a waterfall which dropped into an underground lake at the bottom of the cave. they plunged into the lake, and after loading their gear on an inflatable rubber dinghy, let the current carry them to the other side. to protect themselves from the icy water, they had to wear special rubber suits. at the far end of the lake, they came to huge piles of rubble which had been washed up by the water. in this part of the cave, they could hear an insistent booming sound which they found was caused by a small waterspout shooting down into a pool from the roof of the cave. squeezing through a cleft in the rocks, the pot-holers arrived at an enormous cavern, the size of a huge concert hall. after switching on powerful arc lights, they saw great stalagmites -- some of them over forty feet high -- rising up like tree-trunks to meet the stalactites suspended from the roof. round about, piles of limestone glistened in all the colours of the rainbow. in the eerie silence of the c