英国两种令人费解的做法
Reasons Behind Two of Britain’s Puzzling Practices
英国两种令人费解的做法
To an outsider, any culture can seem quirky, confusing, peculiar or just downright bizarre. And the UK’s got a thing or two that raises a few eyebrows. Brits are quite capable of befuddling visitors with their idiosyncrasies. However, understand the why and things might be less perplexing. Here are the reasons for two of Britain’s more puzzling practices.
在外人看来，任何一种文化都可能是古怪的、令人困惑的、奇特的或完全怪异的。英国有一两件事让人感到惊讶。英国人很会用自己的怪癖迷惑游客。然而，理解原因和事情可能不那么复杂。以下是英国两种更令人费解的做法的原因。
In a world where 61% of nations drive on the right, the unorthodox Brits drive on the left. Why? "Most people think it goes back to Medieval, maybe even Roman times," Stephen Laing explains, curator of the British Motor Museum. This unusual behaviour makes sense because right-handed people wear a sword on their left hip. Travelling on the left allowed them to keep their weapon arm toward their opponent, who would be on their right. This practice persisted until the 18th Century when a law was passed requiring all traffic crossing London Bridge to keep to the left.
在一个61%的国家靠右行驶的世界里，非正统的英国人靠左行驶。为什么?“大多数人认为它可以追溯到中世纪，甚至罗马时代，”英国汽车博物馆馆长斯蒂芬·莱恩解释说。这种不寻常的行为是有道理的因为右撇子在他们的左臀部佩剑。靠左行走可以让他们惯用的拿武器的手臂朝向站在他们右边的对手。这种做法一直持续到18世纪，当时通过了一项法律，要求所有通过伦敦桥的车辆必须靠左行驶。
Visitors to the UK that have just washed their hands in an old-fashioned sink might be wondering why one tap is solely for hot water, the other exclusively cold. “It relates to a time when hot and cold water were kept separate to prevent contamination,” Kevin Wellman, chief executive officer of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering says. Drinkable cold water came from a mains supply, but hot water came from attic tanks and was not considered suitable for consumption. So they were kept apart.
刚在老式水槽里洗手的英国游客可能会奇怪，为什么一个水龙头只用于热水，另一个只用于冷水？英国特许管道与供暖工程学会首席执行官凯文•韦尔曼表示:“这与一个时期有关，当时热水和冷水被分开，以防止污染。”可饮用的冷水来自水管，但热水来自阁楼的水箱，不适合饮用。所以它们被分开了。
As you can see, these quirky Brits have perfectly coherent reasons for left-hand driving, two-tap sinks. But until you comprehend them, they can seem unfathomable, but at least now you’ve already know something.
正如你所看到的，这些古怪的英国人有合乎逻辑的理由来解释左手驾驶和双龙头水槽。但在你理解它们之前，它们似乎是深不可测的，但至少现在你知道了。