Noise pollution: Shhh! 噪音污染:嘘! Why quiet carriages don t work, and how theymight be made to 让车厢安静缘何行不通,如何才能静下来? Quiet carriages on trains are a nice idea: travellersvoluntarily switch phones to silent, turn stereosoff and keep chatter to a minimum. In reality,there is usually at least one inane babbler to breakthe silence. 让火车车厢安安静静是个不错的想法:旅客们自觉地把手机调成静音,关掉音响,连闲聊都尽量小声。而在现实中,车厢里至少得冒出个蠢透了的话痨来打破这份安静。 A couple of problems prevent peaceful trips. First, there is a sorting problem: somepassengers end up in the quiet carriage by accident and are not aware of the rules. Second,there is a commitment problem: noise is sometimes made by travellers who choose thequiet carriage but find an important call hard to ignore. 几个问题常阻扰你享受宁静的旅途。你首先要面对分挑车厢的问题:常有一些旅客莫名其妙地跑进了一节安静的车厢,并对里边的规定浑然不知。其次,你还得留意一个承诺问题:一些旅客原本想静静地呆在车厢,但有时他们会因自己必须接一通重要的电话而发出声响。 The train operators are trying to find answers. Trains in Queensland, Australia, are havingpermanent signs added to show exactly what is expected; a British operator has invested insignal-jamming technology to prevent phone calls. Microeconomics suggests anotherapproach: putting a price on noise. |