万花筒 2009-04-25&04-26 中国汽车的历史沧桑

They don't make him like they used to in China and perhaps that is a good thing. Lu Wenyou collects these old Chinese classics called Red Flags. Production ran from 1958 to 1971.

 

"The quality was in line with the rest of the world," he says, "Some functions used the most advanced technology.”

 

It was quality over quantity. In 21 years just over thousand were ever made.

 

“This is the Five Flag, Red Flag." he said, "It was built by hand."

 

This ultra long limo was made for Chairman Mao, but he died before it was finished.

 

These cars were built for a different time when only elite¹ leaders had the privilege of riding in a convertible² like this one, where they could stand in the back and waved to the adoring³ masses as they sped by.

 

These days the masses have hit the road. Last month the Chinese bought more than a million new cars, many are first time buyers like this farmer from Inner Mongolia spending 7000 us dollars cash for an old Chinese made minivan.

 

"We saved for two or three years," he says," We built a house, bought appliances, then decided⁴ to buy a car." He is heading out to some of the most dangerous roads in the world where on average 200 people died in accidents each day.

 

Terrifying for new drivers like Lu Chao. "At the beginning I didn't dare go out by myself," she says, "because there are so many other cars on the road."

 

Even though she passed her driver's test last year, this is only the second time that Lu has been on the open road and so it's all a little bit nerve-racking and Lu seems uneasy⁵ as well. So she's hired a driving coach to guide her.

 

It's all a change from a land of bicycles a generation ago. From Mao to now, China has for the moment become the world's biggest car market and that comes with the biggest number of new inexperienced drivers as well.

 

John Vause, CNN Beijing.

 

1 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

2 convertible   

adj.可改变的，可交换，同意义的；n.有活动摺篷的汽车

参考例句：

• The convertible sofa means that the apartment can sleep four.有了这张折叠沙发，公寓里可以睡下4个人。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了。

3 adoring   

a.崇拜的，敬慕的

参考例句：

• He would stand and gaze up at her with adoring eyes. 它会站在那里，用崇拜的眼光抬头望着芬。
• She was always made much of by her adoring friends. 她的朋友总是那麽崇拜她。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 uneasy   

adj.心神不安的，担心的，令人不安的

参考例句：

• He feels uneasy today.他今天心里感到不安。
• She had an uneasy feeling that they were still following her.她有一种他们仍在跟踪她的不安感觉。