Since spring, many parts of the country have experienced a wave of windy days. During the May Day holiday, strong winds even affected trains.
入春以來(lái)，我國(guó)多地都經(jīng)歷了一波大風(fēng)天氣。五一假期期間，強(qiáng)風(fēng)甚至影響了鐵路運(yùn)行。

On May 1, strong gales in Baoding, Hebei province, caused a foreign object to be caught in high-speed rail overhead lines, leading to the delay of trains. Some passengers were even stuck on their trains mid-travel.
5月1日，受河北保定市大風(fēng)天氣影響，高鐵接觸網(wǎng)掛異物，導(dǎo)致部分列車晚點(diǎn)。一些乘客甚至半路被“堵”在了列車上。

High-speed trains are powered by electricity, and they receive power from overhead wires strung along the overhead lines, according to Worldwide Rails, a rail news website. As an important part of the power source for high-speed trains, why are rail overhead lines so fragile in face of wind?
據(jù)鐵路新聞網(wǎng)站W(wǎng)orldwide Rails報(bào)道，高鐵列車由電力驅(qū)動(dòng)，由鐵路上方的接觸網(wǎng)供電。作為高鐵的重要供電來(lái)源的接觸網(wǎng)，為什么在面對(duì)強(qiáng)風(fēng)時(shí)如此”脆弱“?

The overhead line equipment itself has strong stability, but there are too many light objects floating along the line. “These foreign objects are extremely dynamic and difficult to control. After all, except for some tunnel sections, the railway is an open-air environment,” He Changlin, deputy head of the Catenary Technology Section of the Beijing Power Supply Section, told Beijing Daily.
高鐵接觸網(wǎng)設(shè)備本身具備較強(qiáng)的穩(wěn)定性，但線路上的輕飄物太多。“這些外來(lái)物動(dòng)態(tài)性極強(qiáng)，特別不好控制。畢竟鐵路除了部分隧道區(qū)段，都是露天開放式環(huán)境，”北京供電局接觸網(wǎng)技術(shù)科副主任何成林在《北京日?qǐng)?bào)》采訪中表示。

Kite wires with a metal core are one of the troublemakers that haunt railway workers every year. If one end of the kite wire touches the power supply line and the other end touches the ground, it will cause a short circuit on the overhead lines, causing a loss of power.
含金屬絲的風(fēng)箏線是每年都會(huì)困擾鐵路工作者的一大麻煩。如果風(fēng)箏線的一端接觸到供電線路，另一端接地，就會(huì)造成接觸網(wǎng)短路跳閘，導(dǎo)致動(dòng)車組失去動(dòng)力。

Other conductive materials, such as tin foil and iron sheets, could also pose a threat. Although other foreign objects are non-conductive, once they are blown into an overhead line, they may disable trains’ pantographs from getting a current.
其他導(dǎo)電材料，如錫紙和鐵皮，也可能構(gòu)成威脅。盡管其他異物不導(dǎo)電，然而一旦它們被吹到接觸網(wǎng)上，也可能導(dǎo)致列車受電弓故障，無(wú)法從接觸網(wǎng)獲得電流。

In many cases, train workers have to remove foreign objects from overhead lines manually. The bigger the foreign object, the harder it is to clean it up. Bird nests are one of the most difficult.
在大多情況下，鐵路工作人員必須手動(dòng)從接觸網(wǎng)清除外來(lái)物。異物越大，清理起來(lái)就越困難，鳥巢是最難清理的外來(lái)物之一。

Due to their height and durability, overhead lines have become a popular site for birds to make a home. Birds carefully arrange their home with branches, iron wires, straw, etc. “They keep us busy. One day we deal with one bird’s nest and the next day they’ll build another,” a Xiamen train power supply worker told Xiamen TV. Their solution? To make fake nests and put them along the railway to trick birds into thinking the place is taken.
高鐵接觸網(wǎng)的高度和堅(jiān)固，已經(jīng)讓它成為了鳥類安家的熱門場(chǎng)所。鳥兒小心翼翼地用樹枝、鐵絲、稻草等布置鳥窩，“這可把我們忙壞了，常常是今天剛拆完一個(gè)鳥巢，明天它們又筑起另一個(gè)?！币晃粡B門鐵路供電段工作人員在廈門電視臺(tái)采訪中稱。那么他們有何解決方案呢?那就是做一些假鳥窩放在鐵路沿線，讓鳥兒誤以為這個(gè)地方已經(jīng)有主了。

以上文章內(nèi)容選自《21世紀(jì)學(xué)生英文報(bào)高中版》，詳情請(qǐng)見《21世紀(jì)學(xué)生英文報(bào)高中版》高二833期