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.

颱風小犬帶出了香港的好、差勁與醜陋的一面。一間旅遊巴公司找自願的司機免費義載那些因為颱風而滯留的市民——這就是好事。香港天文台將八號轉為九號風球時，僅給予十五分鐘的通知時間；而當九號風球懸掛時，港鐵列車服務便停駛，數以千計抵港的乘客等一輛機場的士，要等上近五小時——這就是差勁。許多的士司機為短途車程苛索數百元，有一個還索取三千元——這就是醜陋。
颱風一走，算帳之日（day of reckoning）就來臨了。公眾批評天文台、港鐵和的士司機的聲音來得既快且猛（fast and furious）。滯留的乘客憤怒批評天文台只給予十五分鐘警告時間，就由八號轉為九號風球。在機場的抵港乘客等的士等了數小時，亦指責機場快綫突然停駛。他們也批評的士司機收費過高。習語“day of reckoning”是指人們被清算，必須面對自己的過錯或不安的情況。習語"fast and furious”則指發生得非常迅速而且兇猛有力。
當特首李家超承認，運輸部門需要改善颱風期間的措施時，政府的算帳之日（day of reckoning）也來臨了。他要求機場管理局以及港鐵去思考更好的方法，改善颱風期間的服務。立法會議員田北辰希望港鐵可以為架空路段加建有蓋遮蔽，好讓它們於颱風期間仍然安全。這太愚蠢了。這樣做的開支太大，要花費的時間亦太久了。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻