【正文】 shops, or about those unfortunate people who have to travel from the country to the city every day to get to work. Why people are prepared to tolerate a fourhour journey each day for the dubious privilege of living in the country is beyond me. They could be saved so much misery and expense if they chose to live in the city where they rightly belong. If you can do without the few pastoral pleasures of the country, you will find the city can provide you with the best that life can offer. You never have to travel miles to see your friends. They invariably live nearby and are always available for an informal chat or an evening39。s entertainment. Some of my acquaintances in the country e up to town once or twice a year to visit the theatre as a special treat. For them this is a major operation which involves considerable planning. As the play draws to its close, they wonder whether they will ever catch that last train home. The city dweller never experiences anxieties of this sort. The latest exhibitions, films, or plays are only a short bus ride away. Shopping, too, is always a pleasure. There is so much variety that you never have to make do with second best. Country people run wild when they go shopping in the city and stagger home loaded with as many of the exotic items as they can carry. Nor is the city without its moments of beauty. There is something forting about the warm glow shed by advertisements on cold 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 why city dwellers, who appreciate all these things, obstinately pretend that they would prefer to live in the country. 寧?kù)o的鄉(xiāng)村生活從來(lái)沒(méi)有吸引過(guò)我。我生在城市，長(zhǎng)在城市，總認(rèn)為鄉(xiāng)村是透過(guò)火車(chē)車(chē)窗看到的那個(gè)樣子，或偶爾周末去游玩一下的景象。我的許多朋友都住在城市，但他們只要一提起鄉(xiāng)村，馬上就會(huì)變得欣喜若狂。盡管他們都交口稱(chēng)贊寧?kù)o的鄉(xiāng)村生活的種種優(yōu)點(diǎn)，但其中只有一人真去農(nóng)村住過(guò)，而且不足6個(gè)月就回來(lái)了。即使他也仍存有幻覺(jué)，好像鄉(xiāng)村生活就是比城市生活優(yōu)越。他滔滔不絕地大談?dòng)押玫霓r(nóng)民，潔凈的空氣，貼近大自然的環(huán)境和悠閑的生活節(jié)奏。他堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為，凌晨雄雞第一聲啼叫，黎明時(shí)分小鳥(niǎo)吱喳歡叫，冉冉升起的朝陽(yáng)染紅樹(shù)木、牧場(chǎng)，此番美景無(wú)與倫比。但這種田園詩(shī)般的鄉(xiāng)村風(fēng)光僅僅是一個(gè)側(cè)面。我的朋友沒(méi)有提到在電視機(jī)前度過(guò)的漫長(zhǎng)寂寞的冬夜——電視是唯一的娛樂(lè)形式。他也不說(shuō)商店貨物品種單調(diào)，以及那些每天不得不從鄉(xiāng)下趕到城里工作的不幸的人們。人們?yōu)槭裁辞樵该刻煸诼飞媳疾?個(gè)小時(shí)去換取值得懷疑的鄉(xiāng)間的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，我是無(wú)法理解的。要是他們?cè)敢庾≡诒緛?lái)屬于他們的城市，則可以讓他們省去諸多不便與節(jié)約大量開(kāi)支。如果你愿舍棄鄉(xiāng)下生活那一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)樂(lè)趣的話(huà)，那么你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)城市可以為你提供生活中最美好的東西。你去看朋友根本不用跋涉好幾英里，因?yàn)樗麄兌甲≡诟浇汶S時(shí)可以同他們聊天或在晚上一起娛樂(lè)。我在鄉(xiāng)村有一些熟人，他們每年進(jìn)城來(lái)看一回或幾回戲，并把此看作一種特殊的享受?？磻蛟谒麄兪羌笫?，需要精心計(jì)劃。當(dāng)戲快演完時(shí)，他們又為是否能趕上末班火車(chē)回家而犯愁。這種焦慮，城里人是從未體驗(yàn)過(guò)的。坐公共汽車(chē)幾站路，就可看到最新的展覽、電影、戲劇。買(mǎi)東西也是一種樂(lè)趣。物品品種繁多，從來(lái)不必用二等品來(lái)湊合。鄉(xiāng)里人進(jìn)城采購(gòu)欣喜若狂，每次回家時(shí)都買(mǎi)足了外來(lái)商品，直到拿不動(dòng)方才罷休，連走路都搖搖晃晃的。城市也并非沒(méi)有良辰美景。寒冷潮濕的冬夜里，廣告燈箱發(fā)出的暖光，會(huì)給人某種安慰。周末，當(dāng)成千上萬(wàn)進(jìn)城上班的人回到了他們的鄉(xiāng)間寓所之后，空曠的街市籠罩著一種寧?kù)o的氣氛，沒(méi)有什么能比此時(shí)的寧?kù)o更令人難忘了。城里人對(duì)這一切心里很明白，卻偏要執(zhí)拗地裝出他們喜歡住在鄉(xiāng)村的樣子，這對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)一直是個(gè)謎。Lesson 42 Modern cavemen 現(xiàn)代洞穴人Cave exploration, or potholing, as it has e 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 potholer39。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 potholer. 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 had not the entrance been spotted by the distinguished French potholer, Berger. Since its discovery, it has bee a sort of potholers39。 Everest(珠峰). Though a number of descents have been made, much of it still remains to be explored. A team of potholers 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 potholers 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 treetrunks to meet the stalactites suspended from the roof. Round about, piles of limestone glistened in all the colours of the rainbow. In the eerie（可怕的） silence of the cavern, the only sound that could be heard was made by water which dripped continuously from the high dome above them.洞穴勘查——或洞穴勘探——是一項(xiàng)比較新的體育活動(dòng)。尋求獨(dú)處的愿望或?qū)で笠馔獍l(fā)現(xiàn)的機(jī)會(huì)的欲望吸引人們來(lái)到地下深處。要想對(duì)洞穴探險(xiǎn)者的動(dòng)機(jī)作出滿(mǎn)意的解釋是不可能的。對(duì)洞穴探險(xiǎn)者來(lái)說(shuō)，洞穴有一種特殊的魅力，就像高山對(duì)登山者有特殊魅力一樣。為什么洞空能引發(fā)人的那種探險(xiǎn)本能，人們對(duì)此只能有一種模模糊糊的理解。 探測(cè)非常深的洞穴不是那些在星期日下午漫步的人所能勝任的。這種活動(dòng)需要有軍事行動(dòng)般的周密布署和預(yù)見(jiàn)能力。有時(shí)需要花費(fèi)整整8天時(shí)間來(lái)搭起繩梯，建立供應(yīng)基地，然后才能到一個(gè)很深的洞穴里。作出這樣的準(zhǔn)備是必要的，因?yàn)闊o(wú)法預(yù)見(jiàn)到洞穴探險(xiǎn)者究竟會(huì)遇到什么性質(zhì)的困難。，深達(dá)3,723英尺。這個(gè)深邃的洞穴是由一條地下暗泉沖刷巖石中的縫隙并使之慢慢變大而形成的。此洞的洞口在丹芬阿爾卑斯山的高原上，僅6英尺寬，很難被發(fā)現(xiàn)。若不是法國(guó)著名洞穴探險(xiǎn)家伯杰由于偶然的機(jī)會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個(gè)洞口的話(huà)，這個(gè)洞也許不會(huì)為