地道美语听力播客:Holiday Travel

It's hard to avoid traveling over the holidays but the experience I had last week really takes the cake.

I flew back to Tucson, Arizona, to be with my wife's family, as we do every Christmas. I got to the airport an hour and a half before my flight, which I thought would be plenty of time. When I got there, though, I saw that the security¹ line was out the door. Because it was the holidays, people were traveling with a lot of extra packages. It took twice as long as it normally² would to get to the front of the line. When I finally got to the gate, I found out that my flight had been oversold. The gate agent was looking for people to voluntarily³ give up their seats for a later flight in exchange for a $100 travel voucher⁴. If she didn't get enough volunteers, she would have to bump⁵ people from the flight. Luckily, several people took her up on the offer and the rest of us boarded.

What a hassle! I love the holidays but I don't love holiday travel.
 

1 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

2 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

3 voluntarily   

adv.志愿地；自动地，自发地

参考例句：

• He was not asked to leave—he went voluntarily. 没人让他走，是他主动走的。
• They were said to have left their land voluntarily. 据说他们是自愿离开他们的家园。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。

5 bump   

v.（against,into）碰，颠簸；n.碰撞，隆起物

参考例句：

• I heard a bump in the next room.我听到隔壁房间传来“砰”的一声。
• He got a bad bump on his forehead.他碰得前额隆起一个大包。