中國研發高速列車 時速將達4000公里
Apparently not content with lumbering across the country at a mere 350 km/h, China is now working on developing technology that will boost its max speed all the way up to 4,000 km/h.
似乎是不滿足於目前時速爲350公里的高鐵，中國目前正致力於研發將其最高時速提升至4000公里的技術。The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), one of the nation's major space contractors, announced that it had begun research and development into a new, futuristic type of transport which would operate via supersonic "near ground flight."
日前，國內主要的航天承包商--中國航天科工集團公司宣佈，他們已經開始研發一種新型的未來式交通方式，這種交通方式是利用超音速原理，實現“近地面飛行”。The system would presumably be similar to that of the Hyperloop, proposed earlier this decade by Elon Musk, in which capsules would fly at ultrafast speeds down reduced-pressure tubes, dramatically reducing travel times.
這種系統與伊隆·馬斯克在近幾年提出的超級高鐵原理類似，即運輸艙會在搭建的減壓管道內以接近超音速的速度行駛，大大減少了旅程時間。
Of course, the CASIC isn't looking to reach speeds of 4,000 km/h right away.
當然，中國航天科工集團公司並不是要現在就達到時速4000公里的速度。The first stage of the company's plan will be to create an intercity network of these "flying trains" operating at 1,000 km/h. In the second phase, this network would be extended and the max speed of the pods increased to 2,000 km/h.
該公司第一階段的計劃，是建設時速爲1000公里的區域性城際飛行列車交通網。第二階段，該交通網將被擴張，而運輸艙的最高時速將達到2000公里。Finally, in the third stage, the speed would be boosted all the way up to 4,000 km/h -- five times the speed of civil aviation aircraft today.
最終，在第三階段，該時速將會提升至4000公里，該速度將是民航飛機飛行速度的五倍。
