每日雅思词汇与表达--交通工具

编者按：今天跟大家分享的每日雅思词汇与表达的主题是交通工具。交通工具，大致可以分为三种，一种是人力，一种是机械力，还有一种是畜力，他们伴随着人类的发展，有些是新生，有些在消亡，有些是在复兴，本文会着重提及一种人力交通工具：黄包车（hand-pulled rickshaw）

首先，是一些值得提醒大家的交通工具，太常见的就没有写上去了。

scooter 电动车

coach 大巴

streetcar有轨电车

双层公汽double-decked bus

liner 邮轮

cruiser 游轮

yacht 游艇

canoe 小舟

raft 筏

life boat 救生船

carriage 马车

人力三轮车 pedicab cycle rickshaw

pulled rickshaw 黄包车

litter Chinese sedan chair 轿子 we are carry the litter on our shoulders for the passenger.

接下来分享一篇印度加尔各答的黄包车的新闻报道。原来印度的黄包车是到那儿的中国人带去的，现在当地政府打算立法禁止这个不人道的，摧残人的行当(inhuman, backbreaking)

Kolkata Hand Pulled Rickshaws

History has it that Chinese traders in Kolkata introduced these rickshaws in the late 19th century, primarily to carry goods.

But with time, British rulers made them a cheap mode of transport, eventually turning them into a symbol of the city.

India’s communist West Bengal state says its plan to ban hand-pulled rickshaws in Kolkata is a long overdue step to end a backbreaking, “inhuman” form of work.

But from the point of view of the rickshaw pullers they don’t think it’s inhuman and degrading.

“My grand-father and father were rickshaw pullers, I don’t know any other trade but pulling rickshaws. My family will starve if the ban is imposed,” said Sheikh, a short muscled man who did not know his age.

If the Government really care for them instead of just banning the rickshaws they should find a better alternatives for them first. Just like the case with our leather tannery in tangra.

还有一位博学的网友的评论,更加深入地讲述了黄包车由中国商人引入到印度的经过，并表达了ta对黄包车夫的尊重和敬意（最后一句，绝对地雅思黄金加分句）。

For those who may not know – it was the Chinese that introduced the hand-pulled rickshaw into the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) when they arrived in India during the Raj era. In those golden days, some affluent families even owned private rickshaws managed/pulled by private rickshaw wallahs – commonly portrayed as a sign of status, luxury and wealth. My paternal aunt (died ages ago) from Tangra was one of these folks who owned one in those were the days…..

At all times, the hand-pulled rickshaws had provided a means of labour work for a hand-to-mouth living for many poor Indians from neighbouring states. The work is hard, tough and difficult especially during the hot humid Kolkata summer where many probably die of sun strokes; also during the monsoon season, it is a pitiful sight to see them drenched and wading through dirty contaminated flood water – while the passengers stay dry behind the canvass cloth coverings. Given the congestion and deadly traffic conditions in Kolkata, the rickshaw pullers should be grateful that they survive at the end of every day from bodily challenges.

Hand-pulled rickshaws once existed also in Singapore, Hong Kong and other Asian countries, but they have vanished many years ago. Their presence there was not a form of travel commute vehicle but a special attraction for tourists to sit in and take pictures with – so as to earn some high exchange value of foreign dollars as compensation.

I used to travel alot on hand-pulled rickshaws while spending my young childhood days in Calcutta. On reflections, in this modern age of computer and advanced sciences, hand-pulled rickshaws work is really inhumane as we should treat our kind as man and not man-of-burden. On the other side of the coin, the trade barely provides a livelihood for many poor Indians to make ends meet.

The State Government should work in partnership with those who still hold licences of hand-pulled rickshaws and find ways to compensate them gratutiously not only in monetary terms but also find work for them to work in the long run.

I salute the rickshaw pullers for their endurance, strength and hard earned wages. Someday, I hope a story will emerge as Slumdog Millionaire to bring forth their plight and the many stories behind each and every hand-pulled rickshaw wallah for their livelihoond improvement cause.

以上即是雅思中国网雅思频道为大家分享的每日雅思词汇与表达：交通工具的全部内容，祝烤鸭们早日与雅思分手。