今天学学开车吧！（打印版）

　　Xavier: You just took 10 years off my life. I was sure you were going to hit the median or the railing. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I agreed to teach you how to drive.

　　Xavier: Would you please keep your hands on the steering wheel, instead of playing with the radio? Keep your eyes on the speedometer and stop using the rearview mirror to look at yourself.

　　Our dialogue begins with Xavier saying to Brandy, “Look out (meaning be careful)! Put your foot on the brake!” The “brakes” slow and stop the car; they slow and stop the wheels from turning. When we say “the brake,” we mean really the brake pedal, which is a little a little piece of metal that you press down with your foot in order to make the brakes work. So, Xavier is saying, “Put your foot on the brake,” meaning press the brake pedal down.

　　对话一开始，Xavier对Brandy说，“Look out (meaning be careful)! Put your foot on the brake!” “brakes”可以放慢车的速度，让车停下；阻止车轮转动。我们说“the brake,”意思是一块金属刹车踏板。用脚踩下去，刹车就会工作。因此，Xavier说，“Put your foot on the brake,”意思是把刹车踏板踩下去。

　　Brandy says, “I am braking.” Notice “to brake” can be a verb as well: to slow something down. Xavier says, “No, your foot is on the gas pedal!” The “gas pedal” is the opposite, in some ways, of the brake pedal; it makes the car go faster. Of course, that would be a big mistake to make!

　　Brandy说，“I am braking.”注意“to brake”也可以做动词使用：意思是让某事物慢下来。Xavier说，“No, your foot is on the gas pedal!” “gas pedal”从某方面看，是刹车踏板的反义词；可以让汽车速度更快。当然，可能会混淆出错！

　　Brandy says, “Oh,” realizing her error, “There’s the brake,” meaning “Now I have found the brake.” Xavier is teaching Brandy how to drive. In the United States you can get your driver’s license beginning at the age of 16. But if you get a license at 16 or 17, you have to take formal classes; someone has to teach you how to drive, and you have to pass a test. If you are 18 years or over, in most states, you don’t have to take classes; you can if you want to, but you can teach yourself or, better yet, have someone else teach you how to drive. You can’t drive without someone in the car with you to help you until you get your license. Getting a driver’s license in the U.S. requires two tests: a written test and a road test, or what sometimes is called a “behind the wheel” test, where you are actually in a car and someone is testing your driving. But in our dialogue, Brandy is still learning to drive, from Xavier.

　　Brandy意识到这个错误说，“Oh,There’s the brake,”意思是“我找到刹车了。” Xavier在教Brandy开车。在美国，16岁就可以拿驾照。但是如果要在16、7岁拿驾照，你就必须参加正规学习；有人会教你怎么开车，你还必须通过测试。如果你在18岁以上，在美国的大多数州就不用去学习；你可以自学或者最好叫别人教你，学会就可以开。但是拿到驾照之前，必须有人陪同才能开车。在美国要取得驾照要通过两项测试：一项笔试，一项路考，或者是“behind the wheel”测试，你开车接受别人的检测。但是对话中，Brandy还在向Xavier学开车。

　　Xavier says to Brandy, “You just took 10 years off my life.” To “take 10 years” or “five years off someone’s life” is a phrase we use to say that you were very scared by what another person did. The idea is that because you became so scared – so frightened – your health got worse and you will die 10 years earlier than you would have otherwise. So, it’s obviously not a compliment; it’s something of a criticism. When you say something like that, you’re saying that the person did something very dangerous or very scary.

　　Xavier对Brandy说，“You just took 10 years off my life.” “take 10 years”或者 “five years off someone’s life”我们常常用来说你被别人做的事吓到了。意思是，由于被吓到了，健康受影响，就会早死十年。因此，明显这不是在表扬；而是指责。如果你这样说，你是说这个人做了很危险的事。

　　Xavier says, “I was sure you were going to hit the median or the railing.” The “median” (median), here, means the space between the two sides of a highway or another large or important street. Usually, the median has either grass or cement that separates the two sides, so the eastbound and the westbound. The cars going in one direction and the cars going in the other direction are separatedby a median. “Median” has a couple different meanings in English; take a look at that Learning Guide for some additional explanations.

　　Xavier说，“I was sure you were going to hit the median or the railing.” “median”意思是，高速路或者主道两侧之间的区域。中间一般都有草或者水泥隔开两条路，一条向西，一条向东。向东行驶的车辆和向西行驶的车辆就被中间隔开。 “Median”在英语中有几种不同意思；看看学习指导中一些附加解释。

　　Xavier also talks about the railing. The “railing” is a short piece of metal that is along the side of the road to prevent cars from accidentally going off the road and into the area next to the road. Usually you will find these on freeways and highways; railings will prevent cars from damaging the parts of the property that are next to the highway. It will also prevent the car from, perhaps, going down into an area where they could get killed more easily. Of course, if you hit the railing at a very high speed, you can get killed as well.

　　Xavier还谈到了护栏。railing”是沿着路边短小的金属，用来防止汽车冲到另一边路上。在高速路上常常可以看到护栏；护栏还可以保护高速路旁的实施，不被破坏。或许，还可以保护车内的人落到容易致死的区域。当然，如果速度很快的撞上护栏，也会死亡。

　　Xavier says, “I didn’t know what I was getting into when I agreed to teach you how to drive.” The expression “to not know what you are getting into” means to do something without knowing all of the details ahead of time; to do something without realizing, perhaps, how much work it was or how dangerous it was. People often say this about marriage!

　　Xavier说，“I didn’t know what I was getting into when I agreed to teach you how to drive.” 短语“to not know what you are getting into”意思是之前不知道做什么；不知道工作量，工作的危险程度。人们常常这样说婚姻！

　　Brandy then says, “Relax. I’m really getting the hang of this.” Once again, we have an idiomatic expression; to “get the hang of” something means to begin to understand how to do something and be able to do it better. If you just start a new type of activity – driving or flying a plane, or anything that requires a lot of learning – you may use this expression as you start to get better at it. Or, if you’re learning to play a musical instrument and you start to sound better, you could say, “I’m getting the hang of this.”

　　Brandy之后说，“Relax. I’m really getting the hang of this.” 这里又有一个习语；“get the hang of”某事物，意思是开始明白怎么做一件事，也有能力做好。如果你刚刚开始一项新的活动-开车或者开飞机，或者其他需要学习的事情-如果你开始比较不错了，就可以用到这个短语。或者是，如果你在学一门乐器，听起来不错了，你可以说“我已经要掌握了。”

　　Brandy says, “Shifting gears isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.” To “shift gears” means to change the speed and power of the car, usually by moving a small stick. In the U.S., as in most countries, there are two kinds of cars. The kind of car where you have to move this stick, what we call a “stick shift,” back and forth between the different positions – the different gears – this is called a “stick shift,” or simply a “stick.” Someone says, “I’m driving a stick,” they don’t mean a real stick, which is a long pole, they mean a stick shift car. The opposite would be an automatic transmission, and there you don’t have to use a stick to move things, usually, back and forth between the gears. You do need to move it from park – from the stop position – to the drive position. But it’s not the same as a stick shift, where you have to move it as you go faster and slower.

　　Brandy说，“Shifting gears isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.” “shift gears”意思是通过移动小棒，改变汽车速度和动力。在美国，还有其他很多国家，有两种汽车。一种必须来回移动这根小棒到不同档位的车，我们叫做“手动档”。有人会说，“I’m driving a stick,”不是指真的小棒，长的棒子，而是指手动挡车。相反的就是自动档。你不用来回换档位。你只需要将它从0档换到起步档。和手动档不一样，你不用在改变速度是时换档。

　　Brandy also says that it’s cool to parallel park. To “park your car” means to put your car on the side of the road and stop it and leave it there. To “parallel park” means that you park your car in between two other cars, and usually this means that you have to pull up in front of the second car and then go in reverse, we would say “back up” into this empty space. It’s often considered one of the more difficult things to learn how to do when you first learn to drive. Brandy says, “driving in reverse is fun!” “Reverse” means going backwards.

　　Brandy还说把车子停在两辆车中间很酷。“park your car”意思是把车子停放到路旁。 “parallel park”意思是把车子停在两车之间，这就意味着你必须在第二辆车前停下，然后退到空位上。第一次学开车，这算是比较难学的。 Brandy说，“driving in reverse is fun!”“Reverse”意思是后退。

　　Xavier says to Brandy, “Would you please keep your hands on the steering wheel, instead of playing with the radio?” The “steering wheel” is the large circle – a large wheel that the driver holds onto to move the car left or right; you turn the wheel. That’s called a “steering wheel”; the verb “to steer” means to take something and put it in a certain direction, in this case the car. Xavier is telling Brandy to keep her hands on the steering wheel, instead of playing with the radio. People, of course, often do other things while they are driving, and this can be very dangerous.

　　Xavier对Brandy说， “Would you please keep your hands on the steering wheel, instead of playing with the radio?” “steering wheel”是大的方向盘-司机可以转动方向盘来左右移动汽车。这就叫“steering wheel”；动词“to steer”意思是把事物朝着某个方向摆放，这里就是指汽车。 Xavier告诉Brandy手握方向盘，不要搞收音机。当然，人们在开车的时候常常做些其他事情，这是相当危险的。

　　Xavier says, “Keep your eyes on the speedometer and stop using the rearview mirror to look at yourself.” “Keep your eyes on the speedometer” means look at the speedometer. The “speedometer” (which looks like it’s spelled “speed-o-meter,” but we say “speedometer”) is a small display in the front of the car that you can look at that tells you how fast you are going – what your speed is. The “rearview mirror” is the mirror that hangs in the center front of the car that allows you to look behind you to see what is behind you. Xavier is telling Brandy to stop using the mirrors to fix her hair or to look at herself. Sometimes women do that when they drive – men do it, too, I guess. Not me; I don’t wear makeup – normally!

　　speedometer”意思是看速度计。 “speedometer”是车子前面小的显示器。看着显示器就知道开车的速度。 “rearview mirror”是汽车前面挂在中间的镜子。从镜子里面，可以看到汽车后面的情况。 Xavier告诉Brandy不要照镜子，在那理头发。有时，女人开车就会那样做-男的也会，我猜的话。但不是我；我一般不化妆的！

　　Brandy says to Xavier, “And you stop working yourself into a tizzy.” This is an expression, “to work yourself into a tizzy” (tizzy), that means to become very worried or very anxious, to have a lot of stress. It’s a sort of old-fashion word, but you’ll still hear people use this expression: “to work yourself into a tizzy.”

　　Brandy对Xavier说， “And you stop working yourself into a tizzy.” 这个短语“to work yourself into a tizzy”，意思是很担心焦虑，非常有压力。是一种老式表达，但是还是可以听到现在人们说这个词。

　　Brandy says, “I’m a fine driver.” Xavier responds, “I don’t think those people you’re about to hit would agree with you.” So he’s making a joke, saying that Brandy is about to hit some people who are walking, and they probably don’t think she is a good driver if she does that.

　　Brandy说，“I’m a fine driver.”Xavier回答说，“I don’t think those people you’re about to hit would agree with you.” 当然他是在开玩笑，说Brandy会撞到路边的人。如果撞到的话，那些人就会说她开车技术不好。

　　Brandy says, “If they don’t like the way I drive, they should get off the sidewalk!” The “sidewalk” is a narrow part next to the road that people walk on. So if you go down a street, on both sides of the street, normally in an American city, you will have sidewalks, places where people can walk. Of course, Brandy is sort of making a joke here – we hope! Cars should never, ever be on the sidewalk; that would be very dangerous to people who are walking on the sidewalk. She says, “Well, if they don’t like my driving, they shouldn’t be on the sidewalk,” suggesting that it’s okay for her to drive on the sidewalk. Again, we hope she’s joking!

　　Brandy说“If they don’t like the way I drive, they should get off the sidewalk!” “sidewalk”是路边路人行走的狭窄的一条路。因此，如果你在美国城里街道上行走，就可以走两边的人行道。当然，我们希望Brandy在这里是在开玩笑！汽车是不能上人行道的；不然，对人行道上的人来说是很危险的。她说，“Well, if they don’t like my driving, they shouldn’t be on the sidewalk,”表明要在人行道开车也可以。当然，我们希望她也是在开玩笑！

今天学学开车吧！（在线收听）