美國鐵路的故事

There are many expressions about American railroads. So today， lets talk about American railroads. Train and railway expressions worked their way into American English over a century ago. Many of those expressions are still being used today.

Railroads were important to the development of the United States. The first U.S. railroads were built in eastern states. Trains later connected the East Coast with the West Coast. Railroads changed the look of the United States. They cut through mountains， crossed through wide open lands and joined together in cities. The railroads made goods transporting easier. They also gave many Americans the chance to move around the country.

Sometimes railroad tracks would not join up in a town but divide it into two. One side of the tracks might be good， while the other side was “not-so-good.” If you say someone is from the wrong side of the tracks1， it means they are from the bad side of town.

For the train running down the track there is no right or wrong side. The track is simply the metal structure on which the train runs. To go off track2 means to move away from ones intended purpose or goal.

For example， you could say your career went way off track if you wanted to be a lawyer but became an actor instead. But if you go to law school and complete your studies， your career is back on track3. Lets say you finished law school very quickly because you took double the course load. You then could say you fast-tracked4 your way to becoming a lawyer. In the world of business， it is common to say a project has been fast-tracked or is on a fast track5.

To stay on track6 means to pay attention to your goal or purpose. But getting sidetracked7 is just the opposite. A train that is sidetracked gets sent to a different station or down a different line.

Talking about train tracks， a rail is a single piece of steel that is part of the larger railway. Some rails are dangerous to touch. In some cities， a third rail8 provides power to a subway train， usually operating underground; electricity passes through the rail. The third rail also is an issue which can cause a heated debate. At a party， religion or politics could be third rail topics. Talking about them could kill your social life！

Many Americans say things get derailed9 when they go off track or away from a goal—or when they simply go wrong. For example， they might say something like this， “My travel plans got derailed by the bad weather.”

It usually is bad news when something gets derailed. When something goes off the rails10， it is always a bad thing. To go off the rails means a persons project or life is a wreck， or a train wreck11.

When a train reaches its final stop， we say it has reached the end of the line12. If you reach the end of the line you have come to the end of something. Often in old films， this is what the bad guy says just before he kills someone. “Its the end of the line for your buddy boy.”

And we have reached the end of the line for the stories of American railroads. Now， its your turn to guess the meanings of the expressions about American railroads！

英語中有很多表達與美國鐵路相關。今天我們就從美國鐵路說起吧。一個多世紀前，列車和鐵路短語進入了美式英語，其中許多表達方式沿用至今。

鐵路對于美國的發展非常重要。美國最初的鐵路修建在東部各州。隨后，列車連接了美國東、西海岸。鐵路改變了美國的面貌。它們越過群山，穿過開闊的大地，把城市連接在一起。鐵路使得貨物運輸更為容易，也給了很多美國人在全國各地遷徙的機會。

有時候鐵軌會把一個城鎮一分為二。鐵軌的一邊發展得很好，而另一邊發展得“沒那么好”。如果你說一個人是“來自鐵軌錯誤的一邊”，意思就是說他來自于城鎮的貧困地區。

對鐵軌上運行的列車來說，鐵軌兩邊沒有好壞之分。鐵軌就是列車運行其上的金屬結構。“偏離軌道”的意思是脫離了某人的預期目標。

例如，如果你是想成為律師但卻做了演員，你就可以說，你的職業生涯偏離了正軌。但如果你去讀法學院并完成學業，你的職業生涯就重回正軌。假如你很快讀完法學院，因為你承擔了雙倍的課業負擔，你就可以你快速實現了你的律師之路。在商業界，人們經常會說某個項目已經快速跟進或者步入了快車道。

“停留在軌道上”意思是要關注你的目標或目的。但是“轉入支線”正好相反。被轉入支線的列車會被送到一個不同的車站或進入一條不同的線路。

說起鐵軌，軌道是單節的鋼材，它是大型鐵路的一部分。觸摸一些軌道會很危險。在一些城市，第三道鐵軌給通常在地下運行的地鐵列車提供能源，電力會通過這道鐵軌傳輸。……