ESL Podcast 202 – At the Gas Station

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my friends Steve and Liz, and I thought this would be a good weekend to drive up to Santa Barbara to see them. Gas prices have been through the roof, but I decided¹ to take the short road trip anyway. Before getting on the road, I went to the gas station to fill up my tank.

I drove past the full-service pump and parked at the first self-service one. I got out of the car and saw that there was an “out of order” sign telling customers to pay inside. I wanted to pay at the pump so I got back into the car and pulled up to the next one. Luckily for me, this one was working.

I swiped my credit² card and took the gas cap off. I pushed the button for the grade of unleaded gas I wanted and put the nozzle into my tank. There was a sign on the pump that read, “Do not top off.” After the tank was full, I replaced the nozzle and pressed the button for a receipt³. Right when I was about to leave, I noticed that my windows were dirty, so I got the squeegee and some paper towels and cleaned them. Now, I was ready for my drive up north.


Script⁴ by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

3 receipt   

n.收据，收条；收到，接到

参考例句：

• We are in receipt of your letter of the 10th.我们收到了您十日的来函。
• I asked for a receipt.我要一张收据。

4 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。