Dhaka traffic

　　BBC Learning¹ English6 minute EnglishDhaka traffic6 minute English ?

Jackie: Hello, this is 6 minute English with bbclearningenglish.com. I'm Jackie Dalton,speaking to you from the streets of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. With metoday is our producer in Bangladesh, Senjuti Masud. Hello Senjuti!
　　Senjuti: Hello!
　　Jackie: There's a reason why we're out in the streets today, if you listen to the soundsgoing on around us, you'll get a clue as to what today's programme is about.
　　Senjuti, today's topic was your idea… can you tell us what it is?
　　Senjuti: Yes, traffic.
　　Jackie: Right, and when I asked you… 'Let's make a programme about Dhaka - whatshall we make it about?' Why was traffic the first thing that came to your mind?
　　(both discuss)Jackie: Because there is so much traffic out here and it's so noisy, why don't we goinside so we can hear each other speak!
　　Ah, that's better. Before we continue, I have a question for you: many cities inthe world have introduced a 'congestion² charge', which is when you have topay to drive your car into the city center. But which of these cities does NOThave a congestion charge?
　　GenevaSenjuti: I think it's SingaporeJackie: Well, we'll find out if you were correct at the end of the programme. But now,let's look at some traffic related³ vocabulary(词汇). I like to use bad traffic as anexcuse when I come in late to the office in the mornings. So I might saysomething like 'Ah, I'm sorry, I was stuck in traffic!'
　　Senjuti: Yes, and an expression we often hear related to traffic is a 'traffic jam'. Soyou could say, 'There was a really bad traffic jam!'
　　Jackie: Yes, a traffic jam. There are lots of traffic jams in Dhaka. You could also saythere's 'really heavy traffic' in Dhaka – heavy traffic – lots of vehicles on theroad. What other words come to mind when you think about traffic?
　　Senjuti: One word we might hear is chaos⁴ – when everything is crazy!
　　Jackie: Ah yes, chaos, everything is crazy and disorganized… it's chaos on the roads atthe moment! I think it takes me about half an hour to get to work in themornings.
　　Senjuti: Yes, it can quite boring…and that made me wonder: in Dhaka we spend somuch time sitting in traffic jams – what do people do so they don't get bored?
　　Jackie: OK, let's have a listen. As you listen try to answer this question: what kinds ofthings do people do so they don't get bored in traffic?
　　ClipGirl 1: I might play with my cell phone, maybe games or rechecking my inbox or maybe calling someone and chatting with them… with friends6 minute English ? Man 1: We just wait for the traffic to get clear… and… listen to some CDs that wehave in our car.
　　Jackie: OK, so what did we have there?
　　Senjuti: Well, the girl says she plays with her cell phone. For example, she might playgames. And sometimes she chats to friends on the phone.
　　Jackie: And the man says he just waits for the traffic to clear and maybe listens to CDsor something.
　　Senjuti: But one girl we spoke⁵ to just gets cross. Who does she get cross with? Listento find out.
　　ClipGirl 2: Well actually when I am stuck in the traffic, I don't really think of anything,just that I get mad…. I keep on thinking that… government … they are notactually taking much care to, you know, solve this problem. And that's why thetraffic is increasing every single day.
　　Jackie: She gets cross with the government because she thinks the government isn'tdoing enough to sort out the traffic. Senjuti, she used the word 'mad' there,which is American English for angry – to get mad. What other emotion wordsmight we associate with being stuck in traffic?
　　Senjuti: frustrationJackie: Frustration⁶, to be frustrated⁷. To be annoyed, usually because you can't achievesomething you that you want to achieve. Or things aren't going to plan.
　　Senjuti: I find being in traffic tedious⁸.
　　Jackie: Tedious – another good word – very boring – tedious. So Senjuti what do youdo in traffic jams to try to make them a bit less tedious?
　　(both discuss)Jackie: Well it's nearly time for the end of the programme, let's see if you got thecorrect answer to the question at the beginning…(answer)That's all for this week, but do join us again for more 6 minute English.
　　Goodbye!（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

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 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

3 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

4 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

7 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 tedious   

adj.冗长的，沉闷的，乏味的

参考例句：

• The tedious job simply ate me up.那单调乏味的工作简直把我烦死了。
• He was not used to the tedious of life in a small country town.他不适应这种乡村小镇的单调生活。