評論
打印
W: Nigel Linge is editor of Business Travel Weekly. Nigel, thanks for being on the show. Now, what kind of problems do airline passengers face nowadays?
女：奈杰爾·林是《商務旅行周刊》的編輯。奈杰爾，謝謝你來參加節目。現在，航空旅客面臨著什么樣的問題呢?
M: Well, most of the problems are caused by the heavy volume of traffic.
男：大部分的問題都是由航空流量大造成的。
M: You know, all airports have a limit to the number of take-offs and landings they can handle.
男：你知道，所有機場能處理的起飛和降落的飛機數量都是有限的。
W: So what seems to be the problem?
女：那么問題是什么呢？
M: All flights from a busy airport arrive and leave at more or less the same time.
男：繁忙機場的航班降落和起飛幾乎是同時的。
M: If 60 aircraft are scheduled to take off between 5 p.m. and 5:15,
男：如果60架飛機要在下午5點到5點15之間起飛，
M: and the airport can only handle 120 an hour, that means some will always be late landing or taking-off.
男：而機場每小時只能處理120架飛機，這意味著總會有些飛機會晚點降落或起飛。
M: And if the weather is bad, oh, you can imagine what the situation is like.
男：如果天氣不好，你可以想象一下情況是怎樣的。
M: So passengers have to be loaded into each plane, and then the planes have to line up to take off.
男：乘客必須登上飛機，然后飛機要排隊起飛。
W: So waiting at the lounge or on the plane is quite common.
女：所以在休息室或飛機上等候很常見。
M: Certainly. And another problem that's very common is over-booking.
男：當然，另一個很常見的問題是超額售票。
M: Quite often you hear an announcement on the airport loudspeakers:
男：你經常會聽到機場擴音器上的廣播：
M: "We have over sold on this flight and would like volunteers to go on the next flight out."
男：“本次航班超額售票，希望有乘客自愿乘坐下次航班。”
M: If you decide to volunteer, you may get a cash bribe or free-trip voucher,
男：如果你決定自愿換航班，可能會得到現金補償或免費旅行券，
M: but make sure you get a guaranteed seat on the next flight and a free phone call to whoever is meeting you on the other end.
男：但要確保你在下次航班上一定有座位，并給在目的地等著接你的人打個免費電話。
M: And worse still, you arrive with confirmed reservation and you discover you've been bumped off the flight.
男：更糟糕的是，你已經確認預定了，到了之后卻發現自己被擠出航班了。
W: Presumably, if you choose to travel at off-peak times, there are few problems.
女：我猜，如果選擇在非高峰時間旅行，問題會少些。
M: Well, there are no off-peak times, all flights seem to be full except Saturday.
男：非高峰時間是不存在的，除了星期六，所有的航班都是滿的。
M: I don't quite understand why this is so. You know, if there is a public holiday, things are likely to be especially busy.
男：我不太明白為什么會這樣。你知道，如果有公共假日，可能會特別忙。
M: The special fare systems on the airline's computers encourage more people to fly on less popular flights and this means that as a result all flights are equally full.
男：航空公司電腦上的特別收費系統鼓勵更多的人乘坐人不多的航班，這意味著最后所有航班都是一樣擁擠。
W: So, what advice would you give to business travelers?
女：那么，你會給商務旅行者什么建議呢?
M: I'd say "Avoid big airports if you can".
男：我想說“如果可以的話，盡量不要去大型機場”。
M: The reason is there are too many flights there. Then, remember not to check your baggage if you can help it.
男：原因是那里的航班太多。然后，如果可以，記得不要托運行李。
M: Another thing is "Be prepared for delays". Take something to eat and drink in your hand luggage.
男：另一件事是“為延誤做好準備”。在你的手提行李里準備點吃的和水。
