地道美语听力播客:Driving on the Freeways

地道美语听力播客English as a Second Language Podcast (ESLPod)，是一家位于美国加州洛杉矶的英语教育研究机构推出的英文听力会话，于2005年7月23日首播， 主播Dr. Jeff McQuillan为南加州大学的语言学博士， 现专注于外国语学生的英语学习研究。该播客在iTunes store播客的教育子分类中，与Grammar Girl Just Vocabulary常居前三甲.

Driving in a big city like L.A. can be so stressful. It sometimes feels like I'm doing battle just to get to the grocery store, much less across town. What is it about getting behind the wheel that brings out people's aggressive side? The most mild-mannered mother of three turns into a race car driver when she gets on the road.

In L.A., people rely on the freeway to commute¹ to their jobs or just to get around town. I think driving on the freeway has it's good and bad. On the one hand, there are no stoplights and the speed limit is over 55 miles per hour so you can get somewhere in a flash. But, on the other hand, there are drawbacks², too. People like to gun their engines and cut off other cars to get ahead. The other day, I saw a guy in a Porsche get into the passing lane, race ahead of the Honda that was in front of him, and cut that person off. Then, the guy in the Honda tries to catch up to the Porsche. They're both zipping in and out of traffic, almost causing an accident. They were speeding and changing lanes without looking or signalling. I was sure they were going to cause a big pile up.

As an alternate³ to the freeway, I sometimes take surface streets. Of course, surface streets have their drawbacks, too. If you have a long commute to work or school, it can take you ages to get there. There are stop signs, stop lights, and crosswalks to deal with. And, people sometimes tailgate if they think you're not going fast enough. Now that I think about it, there's sometimes even more congestion⁴ on surface streets than on the freeways!

There's no getting around it living in L.A. We need better public transportation and more people to walk, bike, or rollerblade to work. But as the famous song goes, "Nobody Walks in L.A." [by the Missing Persons]

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse
 

1 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。

2 drawbacks   

缺点，不利条件，障碍( drawback的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The house had many drawbacks, most notably its price. 这房子有很多缺陷，尤其是它的价格。
• This method has quite a few drawbacks. 这种做法弊病不少。

3 alternate   

adj.交替的，间隔的；v.（使）轮流　　

参考例句：

• He and I clean our room on alternate days.我和他隔日轮流打扫我们的房间。
• That was a week of alternate rain and sunshine.那是晴雨天交替的一周。

4 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。