白領(lǐng)英語晨讀經(jīng)典365 039 Travel on Foot 徒步旅行
Travel on Foot
The past ages of man have all been carefully labelled by anthropologists. Descriptions like "Palaeolithic Man". "Neolithic Man", etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label "Legless Man". Histories of the time will go something like this:" In the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large building to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth-dwellers of that time because of their extraordinary way of life. In those days,people thought nothing of travelling hundreds of miles each day.But the surprising thing is that they didn't use their legs even when they went on holiday.They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain.All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks."
When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time lookiong forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival,when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By travelling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceased to be a reality: you might just as well be dead.
