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A grand expense: Morocco
- Morocco 摩洛哥王國
Moroccans will soon discover whether their new Train à Grande Vitesse is also an éléphant blanc.
Today Morocco will inaugurate Africa’s first high-speed railway, a 350km line that hugs the coast from Tangier to Casablanca.
- inaugurate 開始；為…舉行就職典禮；開幕
- hug 擁抱；抱緊；摟抱；有一段距離地挨著（某物）
- It will halve travel times, connecting the cities in just over two hours.
- halve v. （使）減半；把…對半分
The $2bn line was built in partnership with France, which financed part of it.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will visit Morocco for the opening. About 38m passengers use Moroccan trains each year.
The state railway predicts that number could triple by 2030 and is adding a second track on the busy Casablanca-Marrakech route.
Critics say the prosperous coast is already well-connected.
- prosperous 繁榮的；成功的；興旺的
- They would rather see money spent in the interior, where roads are rutted and trains, where they exist, lumbering.
- rut 在…挖溝
- lumbering n. 伐木業(yè) adj. 緩慢吃力的；步態(tài)笨拙的
9.It is unclear how many Moroccans will even be able to afford the TGV.
- The government expects 6m passengers—but it has not revealed ticket prices.
估計得由時間來證明這條line是不是真的有價值，給人們帶來更多好處，感覺也會給政府帶來好處，哈哈。
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