伦敦地铁的故事

“请注意脚下安全”是英国人在地铁上最常听到的一句话。这段提示音听起来稀松平常，其实背后隐藏着不为人知的故事。今天，双语君就跟大家分享两个与地铁提示音有关的小故事。

The story of Megan

Around 250��000 people frequent London's Victoria Station on a daily basis. Fifteen people are injured on escalators in the train station every month.

据统计，大约有25万人每天频繁出入伦敦维多利亚地铁站；每月约有15人乘坐自动扶梯时受伤。

A 9-year-old girl, named Meghan, made an announcement at Victoria Station.

日前，9岁的伦敦小女孩梅根为维多利亚地铁站录制了一段安全提示音。

Her parents are both working at the station, and like other colleagues, they are very concerned about escalator accidents.

她的父母都在这个地铁站工作。和许多地铁工作人员一样，他们常被频发的扶梯安全事故困扰。

When her mother brought her and her brother along to meet her father after work, one of Megan's father's colleagues asked if she would be interested in making the announcement.

一天，妈妈带着梅根和弟弟来地铁站看望爸爸时，一位同事问梅根是否有兴趣录制一段地铁安全提示音。

After several attempts, she did it successfully.

梅根试着录了几次后，完成了一次成功的录音。

"Hello everybody and please listen up. Take care on the escalator, hold on to the handrail and your luggage."

“各位乘客请注意。在搭乘扶梯时请小心，抓稳扶手，并携带好行李。”

The announcement has run at the station for six months. Results can't be argued with, as the number of injuries on the escalators has been slashed by two-thirds.

在地铁站播放了六个月后，这段提示音取得了显著的成效一自动扶梯上发生的安全事故减少了三分之二。

Dr Valentina Cartei from the University of Sussex explained that: "Research shows that deeper adult voices are perceived by humans as having more authority. A child's voice wouldn't have that authority, but perhaps it's the shock factor."

萨塞克斯大学瓦伦蒂娜·凯特博士解释道：“研究表明，成年人低沉的声音通常会给人一种威严感。但儿童的声音却不会，这也恰恰是这段录音取得奇效的原因。”

The story of Margaret

It is common for commuters to hear the announcement "Mind the gap" in the London Underground.

“请注意脚下安全”对常年乘坐地铁的伦敦人来说是见怪不怪了。

But it has special meaning for Margaret McCollum.

但对于玛格丽特·麦科勒姆来说却意义非凡。

She always dresses well and comes to the Embankment station every day.

她每天都会精心打扮，来到河堤地铁站。

She sits on the platform bench and waits for the announcement "Mind the gap" when the train is arriving.

她常静静地坐在站台的长椅上，等待着伴随列车进站时的那一声“请注意脚下安全”。

The voice was her husband's�� actor Oswald Laurence. He died in 2007�� but his voice lives on. The announcement was recorded for Transport for London more than 40 years ago.

这是她丈夫—戏剧演员奥斯沃德·劳伦斯—的声音。劳伦斯于2007年去世，但是他的声音却陪伴了一代又一代乘客。这段地铁提示音是他在四十多年前为伦敦地铁录制的。

After hearing this touching romantic story, a film director from London, Luke Flanagan, said: "The actual 'mind the gap' announcement is as iconic a part of London as the double decker bus or the post box. For Londoners it goes deeper - many of us remember the actual voice of Oswald Lawrence on the Northern Line, so when we hear it now we recall that time. There's a kind of nostalgia for growing up in London and using the tube."

听说这个动人的爱情故事后，伦敦电影导演卢克弗拉纳根有感而发：“这段提示音也是伦敦这座城市的象征，就像双层巴士或邮筒一样。对于伦敦人来说，它更是深入到了我们日常生活的点滴之中。在伦敦地铁北线上，奥斯沃德·劳伦斯的声音曾经是我们最熟悉的声音，如今，当这个声音再度在车站响起，一种怀旧情愫油然而生，使我们不由得追忆起那段日复一日，往返于地铁的旧时光。”