Unit 22 Free Ride 第22单元 免费火车

Three engineers and three mathematicians¹ are traveling by train to a conference. 三个工程师和三个数学家一起坐火车去参加会议。

At the station, the three mathmaticians each buy tickets and watch as the three engineers buy only a single ticket. 到了车站，三个数学家每人各买了一张票，却看到三个工程师只买了一张票。

"How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" asks a mathmatician. “三个人只买一张票要怎么坐火车啊？”其中一名数学家问道。

"Watch and you'll see," answers the engineer. “等会你就知道了。”其中一名工程师回答。

They all board the train. The mathmaticians take their respective seats, 他们全部上火车之后，数学家各自找到位子，

but all three engineers cram² into a restroom and close the door behind them. 三个工程师却挤进厕所，把身后的门给关上。

Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. 火车开动后不久，车长便来收票。

He koncks on the restroom door and says, "Ticket, please." 他敲了敲厕所的门说：“车票，麻烦一下。”

The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. 厕所门只打开一条缝，一只手拿了票伸了出来。

The conductor takes it and moves on. 车长车票一拿便继续往前走。

The mathmaticians see this and agree it is quite a clever idea, so after the conferrnce, 数学家们看了都觉得这个点子真是聪明，会议结束后，

they decide to copy the engineers on the return trip and save some money (being clever with money,and all that.) 便决定回程时学工程师，替自己省点钱（遇到和钱有关的事情，人自然就精明起来。）

When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment³, the engineers don't buy a ticket at all. 到了车站，他们只买了一张回程票，但让他们惊讶的是，工程师们连一张票都没买。

"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" asks one perplexd mathmatician. “你们没有票要怎么回去？”其中一名一头雾水的数学家问道。

"Watch and you'll see," answers an engineer. “等会你就知道了。”其中一名工程师回答。

When they board the train, the three mathmaticians cram into one restroom and the three engineers cram into another one nearby. 大伙儿上火车之后，三个数学家便挤进厕所里，而三个工程师则挤到旁边另一间厕所。

The train departed, shortly afterward⁴, one of the engineers leaves his room， 火车开动后不久，其中一名工程师便从厕所出来，

and walks over to the restroom where the mathmaticians are hiding. He knocks on the door and says,"Ticket, please." 走到数学家藏身的厕所，敲了敲门说道：“车票，麻烦一下。”