新西兰英语 184 Samoa drives on the left

　　Today, Western Samoa changed from driving on the right hand side of the road to the left hand side, just like New Zealand.
American Samoa will continue to drive on the right hand side just like the USA. However, all the other Pacific¹ Islands drive on the left.
Western Samoa is a small country in the Pacific Ocean. The population is less than 200,000. Before 1967, it was governed² by New Zealand but now it is independent³.
Many Samoans live in New Zealand or Australia and send money back home. Now these people will be able to send used⁴ cars to their families in Samoa. Samoans will also be able to buy new cars from Japan instead of from USA.
Most cars in Samoa have the steering⁵ wheel⁶ on the left. Only about one fifth have the steering wheel on the right. One big problem is for buses which have their door on the right. They have to change the door because it is too dangerous for people to get off the bus in the middle of the road.
Many Samoans are unhappy about this change. The government has made September 7th and 8th a public holiday to give people time to get used to the change.
One third of the world drives on the right. NZ, Australia, Japan and the UK drive on the left. The last time any country changed was in 1970 when Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Ghana changed to driving on the right.

1 pacific   

adj.和解的，平静的；[P-]太平洋的；n.[the P -]太平洋

参考例句：

• China lies on the east of the Pacific.中国位于太平洋东部。
• He is serving on a warship in the Pacific.他在太平洋海域的一艘军舰上服役。

2 governed   

v.统治( govern的过去式和过去分词 )；管理；治理；支配（词或短语的形式或用法）

参考例句：

• The country is governed by elected representatives of the people. 这个国家由民选代表统治。
• Soldiers are governed by military discipline. 士兵受军纪约束。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 independent   

adj.独立自主的；不须依赖的，不受约束的

参考例句：

• He is very far from being independent.他现在还远不能自立。
• We must fight for independent and free.我们必须为独立和自由而奋斗。

4 used   

adj.用旧了的，旧的；习惯于…；过去惯/经常

参考例句：

• I used to work until nearly 6:00 o'clock each day.我过去常常工作到6:00左右。
• He used to walk anywhere from two to five miles an hour.他过去经常一小时走二至五英里。

5 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

6 wheel   

n.轮子，周期；v.旋转，装以车轮，转动

参考例句：

• The wheel must be breaking.一定是轮子断了。
• Nobody could roll back the wheel of history.没有人能倒转历史的车轮。