I arrived in London at last. The railway station was big, black and dark. I did not know the way to my hotel, so I asked a porter. I not only spoke English very carefully, but very clearly as well. The porter, however, could not understand me. I repeated my question several times and at last he understood. He answered me, but he spoke neither slowly nor clearly. ‘I am a foreigner,’ I said. Then he spoke slowly, but I could not understand him. My teacher never spoke English like that! The porter and I looked at each other and smiled. Then he said something and I understood it. ‘You'll soon learn English!’ he said. I wonder. In England, each person speaks a different language. The English understand each other, but I don't understand them! Do they speak English?
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New words and expressions 生词和短语
railway(1．1)/'reilwei/n．铁路
foreigner(1．6)/'forinə/n．外国人
porter(1．2)/'pɔ:tə/n．搬运工
wonder(1．9)/'wʌndə/v．感到奇怪
several(1．5)/'sevərəl/quantifier 几个
Notes on the text 课文注释
1 at last，终于。
2 the way to my hotel，去(我住的那家)饭店的路。
3 not only… but… as well，不但……而且……，与 not only… but also是同样意思，所连接的前后两部分的成分必须一致。
4 neither…nor…，既不又不……，这个结构所连接的两个否定概念也必须是对等的成分。
5 like that，像那样。介词短语作状语，修饰动词spoke。
6 the English，英国人。与定冠词连用，表示一个群体，所跟的动词用复数。
参考译文
我终于到了伦敦。火车站很大，又黑又暗。我不知道去饭店的路该怎么走，于是向一个搬运工打听。我的英语讲得不但非常认真，而且咬字也非常清楚。然而搬运工却不明白我的话。我把问话重复了很多遍。他终于听懂了。他回答了，但他讲得既不慢也不清楚。“我是个外国人”我说。于是他说得慢了，可我还是听不懂。我的老师从来不那样讲英语！我和搬运工相视一笑。接着，他说了点什么，这回我听懂了。“您会很快学会英语的！”他说。我感到奇怪。在英国，人们各自说着一种不同的语言。英国人之间相互听得懂，可我却不懂他们的话！他们说的是英语吗？