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Driving
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E: Hi! Welcome to "Let's talk." Today we're going to be talking about the word "drive." You know we've talked about cars lately, and we think it is also very important to talk about the word "drive." It's used in many different contexts in English.
R: That's right. You really can't do anything with your car if you can't drive it.
E: Drive is a noun and a verb as well. We think of "drive a car", but you can also "go for a drive."
R: Here "drive" is a noun. It's also name for a street or a road. There're many famous big streets called "drive", like Lakeshore Drive or Memorial Drive. And you may need to take a driver's test. How would you study for this test? I have kids at home who are dying to learn to drive a car. And first you would need to take driver's ED.
E: Yeah. And driver's ED is different in all the different countries. And I know in China you have to take classes and drive around with an instructor for a while. And that's true in Europe you have to be 18 like in China. But in the US and perhaps in Canada, you can drive even as early as 15 and a half.
R: That's right. At the age of 15 you can get a learner's permit or you drive with your parents or another driver and you're learning. And then you take a test. There're usually two tests, written test and road test that's where you're really driving. I know my driver's ED was free. I didn't pay anything. I took it in school.
E: It happens in school. And also if you do take driver's ED at school, your insurance for your car is much cheaper.
R: But when we lived in Germany, many of the young people there turned 18 and paid very expensive private tuition for a long year's course in driving the car. And I thought their class was excellent. Because they even drove at night and leant to repair car if they were broken. It was very impressive. So I think the more you know about how to drive a car, the better off you are.
E: Well, but today we're going to talk about vocabulary and different vocabulary phrases that include the word "drive" because it's not just "drive a car."
R: Here're some drive words for you. Have you ever been to the "drive-in"? I usually think of "the drive-in movie." And that's where you sit outside and watch the film from your car. Drive in and watch the movie.
E: And we have one in Beijing. I don't know if you have one where you are. But we have one drive-in movie theater here in Beijing. There's also "drive-through." There're a lot of "drive-through" shops. For example, a shop where you can take your photographs to have them developed to get your pictures made and that's called "a drive-through." You don't have to get out the car and go into the shop. Just go to "the drive-though," and you drive though in your car, open the window, and give the lady your money. Then you'll get your pictures.
R: Yeah. I know there're "drive- through convenient stores" where you buy groceries.
E: Yeah. There's "drive-up." At the very beginning this wasn't done. But after more people started getting cars in the US about the 1950's, they had a "drive-up" restaurant where you could go and take your car. You drive in, you order your food and a cute little girl will usually come to bring your food and put it on your car. They had a tray that would sit on your car.
R: And you know in places where parking is difficult, for instance, at my mother's bank, it's good to have a "drive-up window." When she goes to the bank, she drives up without parking or getting out. But she does all for banking, puts the money in, and takes the money out at the "drive-up window."
E: Yeah. It's quite convenient.
R: There's also a "backseat driver." Have you heard of a "backseat driver"?
E: I often had a "backseat driver" in my car. A "backseat driver" is someone who sits in the back seat behind the driver and says "Look out! There's a car coming!" "You're driving too fast!"
R: "You drive too slow!" "No, No turn right!" "Don't park here!" Nobody likes the "backseat driver" usually.
E: So that's a kind of bad word. It refers to somebody is trying to say what should happen and they don't really have the power or the authority. You could even call someone in an office a "backseat driver."
R: That's right. Have you heard of a "designated driver"? That's the person who does not drink any alcohol. If you're all out together and you have a nice evening, Kara OK, dinner whatever, one person will talk to everyone and decide "I don't drink tonight because I'm the designated driver. And I drive safely home."
E: Right. That's because they're nervous about drunk driving. Drunk driving is a real problem. It's when someone is drunk and they're driving their car. My cousin was killed in a drunk driving accident. So everyone is quite worried about this.
R: There're other meanings for an expression using the word "drive." Here are some. See if you recognize them. You might think of your hard drive on your computer.
E: Or how about "driving me crazy" or "driving me nuts"? That means somebody is doing something that makes you really upset. You can say "Oh, that child is driving me crazy."
R: Yeah. Well you could also say "He's driving me crazy." or "He's driving me up a wall."
E: So we hope you enjoy these driving idioms. To drive is not always to drive a car. Maybe you can use them this week in your job or at school.
R: Here is another good expression, "drive safely."
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与Drive一词有关的成语
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E：欢迎收看“你说我说”。今天我们要谈drive这个词。近来我们谈了一些关于汽车的话题，我们认为有必要谈谈drive一词。drive这个词有多种不同的用法。
R：是的，如果你不会开，车就没有用。
E：drive既是名词又是动词。我们知道drive是开车的意思，同样你还可以说go for a drive（驱车出去玩一玩）。
R：这里的drive是名词，drive还是汽车道或马路的意思。有不少著名的大道叫drive，比如Lake Shore Drive很著名，还有Memorial Drive。要驾驶汽车就要通过驾驶考试，怎样学习才能通过考试呢？我的孩子特别渴望在家里学习驾驶。首先你要接受驾驶培训。
E：不同的国家其驾驶培训方式也不相同。我知道在中国，你们要上培训课，然后在教练的伴随下练习驾驶。在欧洲，法定的驾驶年龄是十八岁，这一点与中国的法律相同。但在美国和加拿大，年满十五周岁半就可以驾驶汽车了。
R：是的，你只要年满十五周岁就能获得学习驾驶的许可，你可以在父母或他人指导下学习驾驶，然后参加考试。考试通常分为两个部分，笔试和道路考试，也就是说你要进行实际的驾驶。我当初的驾驶培训是免费的，我没有花钱，我是在学校完成的。
E：学校里是有驾驶培训的。如果你是在学校接受驾驶培训的，那么你的车辆保险费就会便宜的多。
R：但是，我们在德国居住时，那里年满十八岁的年青人要自付很昂贵的学费， 并且要参加为期约一年的驾驶培训。我认为他们的课程很好，因为他们甚至要学习如何在夜间驾驶，而且还要学习一些修理汽车的技术。这给我留下很深的印象。你了解的驾驶知识越多越有益处。
E：我们今天要讲一些词汇，一些包含drive的词组或短语，而不仅仅是drive a car（开车）。
R：这里有一些drive words，你去过drive-in 吗？我一般会想到drive-in movie，这是指一种免下车的电影院。你不必下车就可以观看电影。
E：北京就有一家这样的汽车电影院，不知你所在的地方是否也有汽车电影院。还有一种商店叫drive-through。在美国，这种商店很多。比如有一些照片冲洗店可以把你送去的照片冲洗出来，这种店就叫drive-through。你无须下车走进商店，你只须将车开进drive-through，你打开车窗，把钱递给女店员，于是你就能拿到你的照片。
R：我知道还有一些这样的便利店，在那里你可以买到日用品。
E：还有一种说法是drive-up。早一些时候美国并没有这样的店，但随着越来越多的人拥有了汽车，从二十世纪五十年代起美国出现了drive-up餐厅。你把车开到那里，点你要的东西，可爱的女店员会把食物送到你的车内，装有食物的托盘可以放在车内。
R：大家都知道很多地方泊车难，比如我妈妈常去的银行就是如此。银行设立drive-up窗口是个好主意，再去银行办事时，她不必泊车也不需要下车，所有存钱和取钱的业务在drive-up窗口都可以办理好。
E：这样非常方便。
R：还有个说法是backseat driver。你听过这个说法吗？
E：我的车里常有backseat driver。这是指坐在司机后面的那个人，他时不时会大惊小怪地说：“当心，有车开过来了！”，“你开得太快了！”
R：“你开得太慢了！”“不对，向右转！别停在这儿！”人们通常都不喜欢backseat driver。
E：这是一种不太好的说法。这是指有些人爱指手划脚，但实际上他并没有这种权利或威望。你可以把办公室里的这类人称做backseat driver。
R：你听说过designated driver吗？这是指某人在大家聚会时滴酒不沾。比如当大家欢聚在一起唱卡拉Ok，享用美味的晚餐，有一个人会对大家说：“我今天不能喝酒，我注定要开车，我要保证把大家安全送回家。”
E：是的，这是因为人们害怕酒醉驾车，酒醉驾车是很严重的问题。这是指喝醉酒了的人继续驾车，我的表兄就死于酒后驾车的事故中，所以人们对酒醉驾车都非常恐惧。
R：含有drive的说法还有一些，你是否能辨别出来这些呢？你可能会想到电脑有hard drive（硬盘驱动器）。
E：drive me crazy和drive me nuts又是什么意思呢？它的意思是有人做了让你很烦的事，你可以说：“那个孩子快把我搞疯了。”
R：与drive me crazy相同的说法还有He's driving me up a wall。
E：希望你喜欢这些含有drive的成语，说到drive不一定就是说开车。也许你很快就能将这些成语用在你的工作或学习上。
R：现在再说一个短语，drive safely（小心驾驶）。
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