VOA标准英语2010年-Chinese Increasingly Hit the Road in T

As China's economy grows, salaries rise, and more city residents feel the need to hit the road in what has become a symbol of individuality and freedom – a car.
China has a growing love affair with the car. This is clear at the Beijing Asian Games Village Automobile¹ Exchange, where more and more people come to look and, increasingly, to buy.
Alice Wu is an editor at a Chinese Internet publication. She takes the subway to work, but she is certain she can cut her commute² time if she drives herself.
Wu says it takes her three hours to get to work now. If she had a car, she says, the same trip would only take her two hours.
Big businessThe Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange is the biggest car dealership³ in Beijing. General manager Guo Yong says the business sells more than two thousand cars each week. Guo says it is much easier for Chinese consumers to buy a car now. In the past, it would take them several years to earn enough money to buy a new car. Now, he says, many people only need to save for one year.
Also, the emergence⁴ of less expensive domestic brands like Chery and BYD means more Chinese can afford cars.
Traffic congestionFor decades, most Chinese city residents got about by bicycle or public buses and trains. Now, in many areas, the number of new cars is growing faster than the road system, leaving city streets jammed with traffic.
Guo Liang has wanted to buy a car for a decade, and he will be the first in his family to own one. He is not deterred⁵ by Beijing's traffic jams. Guo says if the traffic is too bad, he will use the car for leisure or holidays with his family.
Another customer, Zhang Menxin, works in Beijing, but is from Xi'an, more than 900 kilometers away.
Zhang says it is very difficult to get a train ticket to return home for Chinese New Year. She adds that she will want to take her infant son, and that the train is not convenient. If she had her own car, she says, she could go anytime she wanted to.
Status symbolWorld Bank transportation specialist Shomik Mendhiratta says a car is something people in any society would aspire⁶ to own.
"Getting a car makes people feel like they have arrived (to the) middle class," Mendhiratta said. "It's got a huge status associated with it. It's a fantastic thing to have, if you have never had a car. A car gives you a mobility⁷ that's unbelievable."And, as 26-year-old car shopper Alice Wu points out, for young women in her generation, a car also can help make a potential boyfriend a little more attractive. She says she does not care if a future beau has a car – but she says if he does, it will add points.

1 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

2 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

3 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。

4 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

5 deterred   

v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I told him I wasn't interested, but he wasn't deterred. 我已告诉他我不感兴趣，可他却不罢休。
• Jeremy was not deterred by this criticism. 杰里米没有因这一批评而却步。 来自辞典例句

6 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

7 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。