Professor: In the last episode, Phil borrowed his friend's car to take a weekend trip to Las Vegas. Now he has come back home and is telling his friend Becky about the trip.
Phil回來啦!不知道他到底贏沒贏錢?
Phil: Wow Becky, you wouldn't believe how much fun I had on my trip to Las Vegas last weekend.
Becky: Really? I've never been to Las Vegas. How was it?
Phil: It was totally awesome. I spent the whole weekend partying and going to shows, and the best part is that I didn't even have to pay for it.
Becky: You didn't have to pay for it? How is that?
Phil: I won so much money gambling that it covered the cost of the trip. I'm telling you, there's no feeling like stepping on the gas and going out on a road trip.
Phil真是好運氣! 他在拉斯維加斯贏了好多錢,這次出去玩等于一分錢沒掏! 不過,Professor Bowman, 他說stepping on the gas是什么意思呢?
P: Winnie, "stepping on the gas" is like pushing down the accelerator pedal, which is also called the "gas pedal."
哦,stepping on the gas就是“腳踩油門,給車加速”的意思。Phil說,那種一腳油門下去,讓車奔馳的感覺特別棒。
P: Exactly. Sometimes when Americans want someone to hurry up, they can tell that person to "step on it," which is a reference to stepping on the gas to go faster.
哦,催別人快點兒,就可以說"step on it".
Becky: You know, I've always wanted to go on a road trip like that, but the problem is that I don't have a driver's license.
Phil: You don't have a driver's license? I thought everyone has a driver's license.
Becky: Well not me. I grew up in New York City and have always taken public transportation, so I never needed to know how to drive. Plus, cars create lots of carbon emissions.
Phil: That's true, but it's not so bad if you get a car with good gas mileage.
Becky: I guess you're right. And if you wanted to be really environmentally friendly, you could even get a hybrid.
原來,Becky在紐約長大,一直坐公車和地鐵,所以不會開車。Professor Bowman, carbon emissions 是什么?
Professor: Winnie, carbon is short for carbon dioxide, which is one of the greenhouse gases. So carbon emissions are the amount of carbon dioxide cars emit.
哦,carbon emissions就是二氧化碳排放量。Phil說,為了環(huán)保,人們應(yīng)該買good gas mileage - "燃油使用效率高”的車,Becky則建議用hybrid, 油電混合動力車。
Becky: But I still don't know ... isn't driving kind of dangerous?
Phil: There are things you can do to stay safe. For example, you should always practice defensive driving, and leave lots of space between your car and the other cars.
Becky: Yeah, I really hate aggressive drivers. And when people get road rage, they become a real hazard on the road.
Phil: Exactly. It's best not to drive when you're angry. That can be really dangerous.
Professor: Winnie, do you know what "defensive driving" and "aggressive drivers" mean?
"Defensive driving"就是為保護(hù)自身安全的“防御型駕駛技巧”,為的就是躲開那些"aggressive drivers" - 橫沖直撞的馬路殺手。不過,"road rage"又是什么意思呢?
Professor: "Road rage" means when you're driving, something happens and makes you really mad, and so you start driving erratically. For example, some people get road rage when they get cut off.
我明白了, road rage就是“路怒癥”。比如說,有人看到別的車插到自己前面,就會暴怒。要我說,情緒如此不穩(wěn)定的人,壓根就不應(yīng)該開車。
Becky: I have been thinking about getting a license lately, but I need someone to teach me.
Phil: Well, I'd be happy to teach you how to drive. I'm a really safe driver.
Becky: Wow, that sounds great! When can we start?
Phil: Well ... actually there is just one problem.
Becky: What's that?
Phil: I don't have a car. Do you have one that I could borrow?
說來說去,Phil自己根本沒車???
Professor: Well, probably he's lived on borrowed cars for all these years!
這次的美語三級跳就播送到這里。