Hello 大家好，这周的播客在周日晚上线啦！祝大家端午节快乐！

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 9 of Weekend English Club, where I tell short stories to help you train your English.

Nowadays there are many different types of trains, from slow trains to super fast trains. There used to be a time when there were no trains in the world, but the invention of trains changed our societies a lot. Today I want to talk a little bit about the history of trains.

For most of human history the only ways to travel on land were by walking or by riding horses. This took a long time of course, so many people would never leave their hometown unless they had a good reason to do so. Transporting things on land also took a long time, but everything changed when trains were invented.

In the 19th century the United Kingdom started a process that changed the world forever, called the industrial revolution. During this time many new things were invented that completely changed how we live, and one of those things was the train. A few different types of trains were invented, but in 1825 a train was invented in the United Kingdom which could transport people between two cities for the first time in history. These first trains used the power of steam to move and soon they could be found all over Europe. They were not very fast compared to the trains we have now, but for the people back then they were very fast. Railways were built all over Europe, and later all over the world. Nowadays there are many different types of trains which use different kinds of power to move, like electricity. It might seem normal to us now, but imagine if you had to walk for example from Beijing to Shanghai. It would take you two weeks or more, but thanks to the high speed train that exists now you can travel between these cities in only four hours. The first trains only had a speed of around 40 kilometers per hour, but this high speed train can go up to 350 kilometers per hour, so you can imagine why trains changed the world so much. Next time you take the train to travel to another city, try to think what your trip would have been like if trains did not exist.

• Used to be: 曾经是 
• Invention: 发明；创造
• Society：社会；societies 社会（复数）
• Unless：除非
• Ride horses：骑马
• Transport：（用交通工具）运输；运送
• Process：过程；进程
• industrial revolution：工业革命
• Completely：完全地
• Steam：蒸汽；蒸汽动力
• Compared to：与...相比；根据...来衡量或判断
• Back then：当时；过去的某个时间点/时期
• Railways：铁路
• High speed train：高速列车；高铁

主播：Daniel

校对：nan_nan