2.China’s first train from Beijing to Tibet set out July 2,2006, carrying busine travelers and thrill-seekers on the world’s highest railway.中国第一辆从北京开往西藏的列车在2006年7月2日开通，运载着商务旅行者和寻找刺激的人们在世界最高的铁路上行进。
The $ 4.2 billion railway, an engineering marvel that croes mountain paes up to 16,500 feet high, is part of government efforts to develop China’s poor west and bind poor ethnic areas to the booming east.这条造价为42亿美元的铁路是工程史上的一个奇迹，它穿越海拔高达16500英尺的山口，是中国政府努力开发中国贫穷西部并将贫穷的少数名族地区与快速发展的东部连接起来的一项举措。
The mood was festive aboard the train from Beijing on the 48-hour, 2,500-mile journey to Lhasa.乘坐火车从北京去拉萨的48个小时，2500英里长的旅程中，乘客们一路非常开心。
“I feel very proud,” said Guo Chaoying, a 40-year-old civil servant from Beijing who said he was going to Lhasa on busine.“We Chinese built this rail line ourselves, and it’s a world first, the highest.It shows our ability in high technology.”
“我感到无比自豪，”来自北京的40岁的公务员郭朝英说，他要去拉萨出差，“我们中国人自己建设完成了这条铁路，它是世界第一高海拔铁路。它表明了我们的高科技能力。”
The specially designed train cars are equipped with double-paned windows to protec against high-atitude ultraviolet radiation.There are outlets for oxygen masks besides every seat, for paengers who need help coping with the thin air.特别设计的列车车厢配备有双层车窗，以防止高海拔地区的紫外线辐射。每个座位旁还配备有氧气面罩出口，用来帮助有需要的乘客应付空气稀薄引起的缺氧状态。
Guo was riding in the lowest-price car, which had only thinly padded seats and no bunks, but he said he didn’t worry about resting.郭的座位在最低价的车厢里，座位上只铺了薄薄的衬垫，没有卧铺，但他说他并不担心休息问题。
“I’m too excited anyway,” he said,”There’s going to be too much to see.”
“不管怎样，我太激动了，”他说，“要看的东西太多了。”
A few cars down,Tan Ji, a 40-year-old eletrical engineer from suburban Beijing, was unpacking his camera in his luxury compartment, which had four beds and a television.走过几节车厢，一位40岁、名叫谭吉的来自北京郊区的电气工程师正在他的豪华车厢内解开包裹，拿出他的照相机。这个车厢中有4张床和一台电视。
Tan said he planned to spend 11-12 days sightseeing in Tibet, then fly home.谭说他计划用11-12天的时间在西藏观光，然后乘坐飞机回家。 “I’m really just going for the experience, because it’s a first,” Tan said.“我其实只是为了获得这次体验，因为这是第一辆开通的列车。” 谭说。
The opening of the railway coincided with a major political anniversary --- the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.铁路的开通适逢一次重要的政治纪念日——中国共产党建党85周年纪念日。
“This is a magnificent feat by the Chinese people, and also a miracle in world railway history,” President Hu Jintao said at a morning ceremony in the western city of Golmud to inaugurate service on the railway.“西藏铁路是中国人民的伟大创举，也是世界铁路史上的一个奇迹。”胡锦涛主席在中国西部城市格尔木清晨举行的通车典礼上说。
The first train on the line pulled out of Golmud carrying about 600 government officials and railway workers.Minutes later, a train left Lhasa for Golmud.A third train left the western city of Chengdu later in the day for Lhasa.
第一列火车载着约600名政府官员和铁路建设者驶出格尔木。几分钟后，一列火车驶出拉萨开往格尔木。另一列火车在当天晚些时候从西部城市成都开往拉萨。
The train from Beijing pulled out of the Chinese capital Saturday night.The 710-mile final stretch of the line linking Golmud with Lhasa croes some of the world’s most forbidding terrain on the treele Tibetan plateau.来自北京的列车是在周六晚上从中国首都发车的。
最后一段710英里的铁路将格尔木与拉萨连接在一起，穿越没有树木的青藏高原，这里被认为是世界上最令人生畏的地带。
Xinhua reported Saturday afternoon that the train from Lhasa had croed the 16,737-foot Tanggula Pa, which the government calls the highest point on any railway in the world.
新华社在周六下午报道，离开拉萨的列车已经穿越了海拔16737英尺的唐古拉山口，这是政府宣布的世界铁路的最高点。
Paengers signed health declarations saying they understood the risks of traveling at such high altitude.They were required to declare that they didn’t suffer from heart disease or other ailments that might make them susceptible to altitude sickne.
乘客们签署了健康声明，称他们明白在如此高海拔地区旅行的风险。他们被要求声明自己没有心脏病或容易使他们产生高原反应的其他疾病。
