365个英语简短小故事-178. The Driving Lesson (1)

“Whoa! Stop! Stop! Stop, dammit! S…T…O…P!” Noah was astounded¹. His heart was racing². Webster, Noah's 18-year-old driving student, had just run a red light. Instead of stopping at the light, and then making a right turn after traffic had gone by, Webster had gone straight through the red light while two northbound cars were approaching the intersection³. Luckily, both cars were driving slowly enough that they were able to brake. Webster, at the last second, managed to turn north. Otherwise, he would have collided into the southbound traffic on Allen.

After turning north on Allen, Webster stopped the car. “What are you doing?! What are you doing?! You can’t stop here—go, go, go! We’re going to get rear-ended! Get moving!” Webster had stopped the car because he was confused and rattled⁴. Noah's yelling certainly didn’t help matters. Webster slowly accelerated.

Noah told him to move to the right lane when it was safe. Webster turned on the signal, looked around at the right rear to make sure no one was in his blind spot, and got into the right lane. At Orange Grove⁵, Webster signaled again and made a right turn. Noah told him to pull over to the curb⁶. Webster parked the car.

“Webster, I’m sorry I yelled at you, but you cannot run a red light! When you’re moving forward, you’ve always got to be looking at what’s in front of you. You make a turn after you make sure the light or traffic permits you to. We could both be in the hospital right now. But we’re okay, thank the Lord. And no cop was around, so we’re double-okay. So, let’s just take a breather, and when you’re ready, we’ll get back on the road. And from now on, when I say stop or brake, do so immediately!”

 

1 astounded   

v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶

参考例句：

• His arrogance astounded her. 他的傲慢使她震惊。
• How can you say that? I'm absolutely astounded. 你怎么能说出那种话？我感到大为震惊。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

4 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

5 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

6 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。