美语三级跳 Go English：012C 开车: 高级课程

（单词翻译）

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回来啦！不知道他到底赢没赢钱？

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 awesome¹. 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 gambling² 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真是好运气! 他在拉斯维加斯赢了好多钱，这次出去玩等于一分钱没掏! 不过，Professor Bowman, 他说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“脚踩油门，给车加速”的意思。Phil说，那种一脚油门下去，让车奔驰的感觉特别棒。

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，催别人快点儿，就可以说"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 license³.

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 emissions⁴.

Phil: That's true, but it's not so bad if you get a car with good gas mileage⁵.

Becky: I guess you're right. And if you wanted to be really environmentally friendly, you could even get a hybrid⁶.

原来，Becky在纽约长大，一直坐公车和地铁，所以不会开车。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说，为了环保，人们应该买good gas mileage - "燃油使用效率高”的车，Becky则建议用hybrid, 油电混合动力车。

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 defensive⁷ 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"就是为保护自身安全的“防御型驾驶技巧”，为的就是躲开那些"aggressive drivers" - 横冲直撞的马路杀手。不过，"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 erratically⁸. For example, some people get road rage when they get cut off.

我明白了， road rage就是“路怒症”。比如说，有人看到别的车插到自己前面，就会暴怒。要我说，情绪如此不稳定的人，压根就不应该开车。

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?

说来说去，Phil自己根本没车啊？

Professor: Well, probably he's lived on borrowed cars for all these years!