VOA慢速英语2021--The Many Kinds of Roads

This week, we answer a question from a reader about the many words used for different kinds of roads. Here's the question:

Question:

What are the differences between avenues, roads, streets, lanes², drives, ways, trails, boulevards and highways?

-An English Learner

Answer:

Well, that is a good question and one that even some native speakers wonder about.

Let's talk first about roads.

Road

A road is a long piece of hard ground built between two places so people can walk, drive or ride easily from one place to the other.

Roads can be paved⁴ or even made of dirt or stone. Roads exist in cities, towns and rural⁵ areas. They can be large or small.

The word "road" is the most general of today's terms and is sometimes used in place of "street" or "highway" or other related⁶ words.

Street

A street is a public road in a city or town that has buildings on one or both sides of it. Sometimes, we use the word "street" for many kinds of roads.

Streets often run across avenues, which are wider streets.

Let's take the borough⁷ of Manhattan in New York City. It has more than two-hundred numbered streets that run east to west. 42nd Street is one example.

Avenue

Manhattan also has 12 numbered avenues that run north to south. An example is 5th avenue.

An avenue is a very wide street, usually inside a city. In Manhattan, most avenues are around 30 meters wide while the streets are narrower.

Lanes and ways

Now, let's talk about smaller streets: lanes and ways.

A way is a small side street that is connected to a larger street. And a lane¹ is a very narrow street or path. Ways and lanes are often found in residential⁸ areas.

Boulevard

A boulevard is a wide and usually important city street that often has trees, grass, or flowers planted down its center or along its sides.

Drive

"Drive" is used in the name of some public roads. Drives may be big or small. In Manhattan, for example, there is FDR Drive – a six-lane highway.

Highway

Highways are paved main roads that have several lanes for traffic and connect cities, towns and other areas. Vehicles on highways drive at higher speeds than they do on other kinds of roads.

Trail

And finally, we have trails.

A trail is usually a rough path through a field or a forest. Some trails are for people and animals to walk or ride on. Others are for outdoor activities, like hiking and bicycling.

And that's Ask a Teacher.

Words in This Story

pave³ – v. to cover something with a material (such as stone, tar⁹ or concrete) that forms a hard, level surface for walking, driving or something else

borough – n. one of the five main sections of New York City

residential – adj. of or relating to the places where people live

lane – n. a part of road that is marked by painted lines and that is for a single line of vehicles

rough – adj. having a surface that is not even

1 lane   

n.(乡间)小路(巷)；车(跑，泳)道；航道

参考例句：

• There is a shop at the end of this lane.这条胡同的顶头有一家商店。
• The champion is running in lane five.冠军跑在第五跑道上。

2 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。

3 pave   

vt.给（道路路面）铺上石板或砖

参考例句：

• The town council decided to pave the square before the Hall.市议会决定把市政厅前的广场铺上石板。
• I believe this treaty will pave the way to peace in Europe.我相信这个条约将为欧洲的和平铺平道路。

4 paved   

v.铺( pave的过去式和过去分词 )；为…铺平道路

参考例句：

• a paved area near the back door 后门旁一块石板地
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track. 铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

6 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。

7 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

8 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

9 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。