Expressions for the Road!

 

Now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning¹ English.

The United States is a big country with many, many roads. Many, if not most, of Americans depend on motor vehicles to get from place to place.

It goes without saying that, when talking or writing, Americans often use expressions with words from the world of automobiles². Now, let's examine a few common expressions that come from parts of a vehicle.

First is the part of the car that protects the front and back of a vehicle -- the bumper³. The bumper is what suffers the most damage in a small accident.

The front bumper extends⁴ on both sides to the fender, which protects the front wheels. If your car hits someone else’s and causes a small amount of damage, we call it a fender-bender.

But let's get back to the word bumper.

American traffic reporters often use the term bumper-to-bumper when describing heavy traffic. It means that vehicles are moving very slowly, and almost touching⁵ each other.

Americans can use the term bumper-to-bumper as an adjective⁶. If you are late for dinner because of traffic, you can tell your friends, "Sorry, I'm late. But traffic was bumper-to-bumper." They will understand.

Another part of a vehicle – mainly found on small trucks and on some models of cars -- is the tailgate. This is the gate or doorway⁷ that opens up in the back of the vehicle. If your car or truck has one, you can lower the tailgate and sit on it.

This door on the back of larger passenger vehicles has led to something very American: the tailgate party. Tailgate parties usually take place in a parking area, where one or more of these vehicles are stopped. Their tailgates are open, with food or drinks available for the drivers and their passengers.

In the United States, tailgate parties are common at large sporting events or music shows.

Now, many cars do not have tailgates. That's fine. If you spend time friends and others in a large parking lot before a rock concert or a big game, you are still tailgating!

So, that form of tailgating is fun. But it is not fun when someone is tailgating your vehicle. A tailgater is someone who drives much too close to the back of your car. At best, this can be a pain, if not making you, the driver, really angry. But tailgating is also dangerous and the cause of many rear-end accidents.

There are other behaviors that can lead to a traffic accident.

Let’s take rubber necking, for example. Rubber necking is when drivers slow down on a road to look closely⁸ at a wreck⁹ or something else eye-catching as they are passing.

Some drivers can stretch their neck far out of the window to see something like a serious crash. This is where we get the term. Drivers who rubber neck, however, can create their own accidents. First, they slow down, causing problems for other drivers and affecting the flow of traffic. But more importantly, they aren't looking at the road in front of them!

The first rule of driving should always be look where you are going! Another rule should be, stay calm.

The most dangerous kind of driving behavior is road rage¹⁰. This is anger or violence towards other drivers. Road rage is such a big problem in some areas, that local governments have laws that make some acts of road rage illegal.

The road hog¹¹ is more of a pain than dangerous. To hog something means to take too much of something. So, a road hog takes up too much of the road. The road hog sometimes drives in two lanes¹² of traffic. Other times, they may not let other motorists pass them.

And that bring us to the end of our road and this episode¹³ of Words and Their Stories! Next time you take a drive, you'll be able to talk about your fellow drivers.

And with any hope, you won't run into any rage road. I'm Bryan Lynn.

And I'm Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

neck – n. the part of an animal that connects the head with the body

rage – n. violent and uncontrolled anger

parking – n. a large area of public land kept in its natural state to protect plants and animals

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

4 extends   

v.（空间、时间等）延伸，延续( extend的第三人称单数 )；伸展；给予；延长

参考例句：

• This country extends its power and influence into neighbouring countries. 这个国家将其势力与影响扩大至邻国。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His domain extends for 20 miles in every direction. 方圆20英里之内都是他的地产。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

6 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

7 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

8 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

9 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

10 rage   

vi.(烈火)熊熊燃烧；发怒；怒斥；季风

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• Haines got into a rage.海恩斯勃然大怒。

11 hog   

n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占

参考例句：

• He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
• Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。

12 lanes   

n.小路( lane的名词复数 )；车道；航道；分道

参考例句：

• A headless rider haunts the country lanes. 一个无头骑士常出没于乡间的小路上。
• He made a kamikaze run across three lanes of traffic. 他不要命地冲过了三条车道。

13 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。