ESL Podcast 903 – Listening to a Traffic Report

 　　Every afternoon before I leave work, I listen to the traffic report to see if I should take my usual route home or make a detour¹. So today, like every day, I turned on my radio.

　　“It’s a tough commute² today if you’re traveling on I-35 north. There’s a major slowdown due to an overturned big rig that’s blocking the number two lane.”

　　Oh no. That meant that I had to take the 40W instead.

　　“If you’re traveling on the 40W, you’ll find a lot of congestion³. It’s down to one lane because of a pileup. Emergency vehicles are responding.”

　　Wow, that meant I might have to take surface streets all the way home.

　　“And if you’re thinking of taking Broadway Boulevard west from downtown, think again. There is a stalled vehicle blocking the right lane and construction all the way to Main Street.”

　　Well, I was in a no-win situation. Do I want to spend two hours in gridlock or two more hours at work?

　　Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

2 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

3 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。