又中又英｜Fast and furious

Typhoon Koinu brought out the good, the bad, and the ugly in Hong Kong. A tour coach company asked volunteer bus drivers to give free rides for people stranded by the typhoon. That’s good. The Hong Kong Observatory gave just 15 minutes notice when it raised the typhoon signal from 8 to 9. The MTR stopped train services when signal 9 was issued. Thousands of arriving passengers then had to wait up to five hours for an airport taxi. That’s bad. Many taxi drivers demanded hundreds of dollars even for a short ride. One asked for $3,000. That’s ugly.
A day of reckoning came as soon as the typhoon was gone. Public criticism of the observatory, the MTR, and taxi drivers came fast and furious. Stranded commuters angrily criticized the observatory for giving just 15 minutes warning when it raised the signal from 8 to 9. Arriving passengers at the airport who waited hours for taxis blamed the Airport Express for suddenly shutting down. They also criticized taxi drivers who overcharged. The expression “day of reckoning” means a time when people must deal with a mistake or unpleasant situation. The expression "fast and furious” means happening very fast and in a forceful way.
The day of reckoning for the government came when Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu admitted the transport sector needed improvements during storms. He wants the Airport Authority and MTR to think of better ways to improve services during storms. Legislator Michael Tien Puk-sun wants the MTR to cover above-ground sections of rail lines to make them safe during storms. That is silly. It costs too much and will take too long.

台风小犬带出了香港的好、差劲与丑陋的一面。一间旅游巴公司找自愿的司机免费义载那些因为台风而滞留的市民——这就是好事。香港天文台将八号转为九号风球时，仅给予十五分钟的通知时间；而当九号风球悬挂时，港铁列车服务便停驶，数以千计抵港的乘客等一辆机场的士，要等上近五小时——这就是差劲。许多的士司机为短途车程苛索数百元，有一个还索取三千元——这就是丑陋。
台风一走，算帐之日（day of reckoning）就来临了。公众批评天文台、港铁和的士司机的声音来得既快且猛（fast and furious）。滞留的乘客愤怒批评天文台只给予十五分钟警告时间，就由八号转为九号风球。在机场的抵港乘客等的士等了数小时，亦指责机场快綫突然停驶。他们也批评的士司机收费过高。习语“day of reckoning”是指人们被清算，必须面对自己的过错或不安的情况。习语"fast and furious”则指发生得非常迅速而且凶猛有力。
当特首李家超承认，运输部门需要改善台风期间的措施时，政府的算帐之日（day of reckoning）也来临了。他要求机场管理局以及港铁去思考更好的方法，改善台风期间的服务。立法会议员田北辰希望港铁可以为架空路段加建有盖遮蔽，好让它们于台风期间仍然安全。这太愚蠢了。这样做的开支太大，要花费的时间亦太久了。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻