Taxi!（在线收听） |
| BBC Learning EnglishLondon LifeTaxi! Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is LondonLife. In the programme today– what do you think would be the most stressful anddangerous job in Britain, a police officer, perhaps a deepsea fishermen? Well no, according to a recent survey beinga London taxi driver takes that prize. As this taxi driver says: Taxi driverIt is a really tough job, mentally, physically, traffic isgetting worse and worse. Callum: It's a really tough job – a tough job – it'sreally hard, really difficult, not just physically, butmentally as well. One reason is the amount of traffic. According to the driver it's getting worse and worse. Taxi driverIt is a really tough job, mentally, physically, traffic isgetting worse and worse. Callum: In London there are a lot of traffic jams. Oftenthe traffic runs very slowly because of this congestion. Congestion, this a word used to talk about the situationwhen there is a lot of traffic which can't move at areasonable speed, congestion. For most of us if we have tosit in a traffic jam for a few minutes we get stressed andirritated. But imagine if you had to do that all day,everyday as your job! Perhaps then it's a little easier tounderstand why taxidrivers feel so stressed about their jobs. Before we hear from another taxi driver, here's a littlebit of background. One of the typically recognisable imagesof London is that of the black taxi also known as a blackcab. The word 'cab' is a shortened form of the French wordCabriolet. Originally they were horse-drawn vehicles andthe 'driver' was known as a 'cabbie'. This term is stillused today for a taxi driver, a cabbie. Cabbies and theircabs have to be licensed and to get a licence the driver inLondon has to pass a very difficult test called 'TheKnowledge'. To prepare for the test would-be drivers have to memoriseroutes and places of interest around central London. Thisis an area which has about 25,000 streets! They need to beable to take passengers from A to B without having to lookat a map and without having to ask for directions. From Ato B – this short expression means from one place toanother place. It usually takes nearly three years fordrivers to learn the streets and pass the test. One of the interesting side effects of being a taxi driveris that research has shown that parts of the brains ofcabbies are actually larger than those in the generalpopulation. It seems as if learning all the streets andways of getting from A to B makes part of the brain grow. Now, let's hear some more from a London cabbie. MickeyTarbuck explains why he feels that the job is stressfulMickey TarbuckWell, during the course of the day we're in traffic all daylong and the passengers that get into the back just want toget from A to B as quickly as possible and sometimes theyput you in a position where as soon as they get in they say"I've got 15 minutes to get there" and straightaway you'reunder pressure to get 'em there. Callum: Mickey says that stress comes from being in trafficall day, passengers get in tothe cab and want to get from A to B as quickly as possible,they are in a hurry and that puts more pressure on. Listenagain. Mickey TarbuckWell, during the course of the day we're in traffic all daylong and the passengers that get into the back just want toget from A to B as quickly as possible and sometimes theyput you in a position where as soon as they get in they say"I've got 15 minutes to get there" and straightaway you'reunder pressure to get 'em there. Callum: Mickey goes on to talk some more about the traffic. Earlier in the programme we had the word congestion. Congestion. A few years ago there was a new scheme inLondon to try and make the congestion less. This is calledthe congestion charge, and it means that people who drivein the centre of London have to pay a special fee – theidea is that if people have to pay to drive in the citythen some might decide not to do it and therefore thecongestion will get less. Listen to Mickey, does he thinkthe congestion charge is working? Mickey TarbuckIt's not easy, with the road conditions now. When thecongestion charge first came in, it worked, it was good,the traffic did ease off. But it seems to be getting backup to the levels it was when it came in. Callum: At first, Mickey says, the congestion charge didwork. The traffic eased off, eased off, it got less. Butnow, he says, the level of traffic and the level ofcongestion has got higher again to the level it was beforethe congestion charge. Listen again. Mickey TarbuckIt's not easy, with the road conditions now. When thecongestion charge first came in, it worked, it was good,the traffic did ease off. But it seems to be getting backup to the levels it was when it came in. Callum: So next time you're stressed out and stuck in atraffic jam, spare a thought for the cabbies who have tospend most of their working life in them. That's all from this edition of London Life. |
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