实战口语情景对话 第1066期:Life Without Cars 没有汽车的生活

Abidemi: So Jeremy, you don't have a car now but you had a car when you were younger. How do you find that?
阿比德米：杰里米，你现在没有车，不过你年轻时有过一辆车。你感觉怎么样？

Jeremy: Well, I mean, the reason I don't have a car now is because of money. I can't afford a car at this point. But it's been many years since I actually owned a car. And I've gotten really used to taking public transit. And when you don't have a car for several years, you just get used to it and then I can sort of justify it to myself saying, "Well, I'm doing my part for the environment. I'm not emitting all those emissions onto the atmosphere, so this is small, small part for the world." But then when I think about how I can't take a road trip up into the mountains or go to the ocean or just enjoy my freedom, or I can't have 15 minutes where I get to listen to my own music and sing along in the car or just have that time to spend to myself, I really, really miss it, honestly. Some of my best times from my youth were actually just driving around with my friends. And I don't get that anymore. And even just to go out and pick something up from the supermarket on a rainy day, I don't have that convenience anymore. I mean, it's not the worst in the world not having a car but sometimes, I really, really miss it. What about you, Abidemi? I know you have transit—or you have transportation now. How do you enjoy that?
杰里米：我现在没有车是因为我没钱。目前我买不起车。很多年以前，我有一辆车。现在我已经习惯于乘坐公共交通工具了。我已经很多年都没有车了，所以我已经习惯没有车的生活了，而且我可以给自己找个理由，“我是在为保护环境贡献自己的力量。我没有把排放物排放到空气中，这是为世界贡献了微薄的力量。”但是一想到我不能进行公路旅行，不能开车去山区或是海边玩，不能享受那种自由，不能在车里度过边听音乐边跟着唱的那15分钟，我真的很享受那种独自度过的时间，说实话我很怀念那段时期。我青年时期一些最美好的时光就是开车和朋友们出去玩的那段时光。现在我再也不能享受这种美好了。而且，下雨天外出或是去超市买东西，也很不方便。没有车并不是最糟糕的事情，可是有时我很想念有车的那段时光。你呢，阿比德米？我知道你现在有交通工具。你享受这种生活吗？

Abidemi: That's true. I think my story is the opposite of yours actually, Jeremy. For the longest time, I didn't have a car or transportation. All I had was my bike or walking everywhere. And although I enjoyed that, I envied my friends who had cars and could just take off at any moment, go wherever they wanted to. Now I have a scooter and I absolutely love it. I would prefer a car on some days, it's true, on those days or when it's really cold and I need the heat of a car. But the convenience of having my scooter and the fact that it's so cheap. I can go anywhere, anytime. I don't have to look for parking. The parking is free. I can leave it on the side the road somewhere and find it there and don't have to pay for parking. Yeah, I really enjoy that. And it just feels cooler. I think wherever I live, wherever I go now, I would—even if I do buy a car someday, I would always want to have a scooter or a motorbike because it's just something—I don't know, exciting.
阿比德米：没错。我的生活和你完全相反，杰里米。很长一段时间以来，我没有车，也不乘坐公共交通。以前我外出会骑自行车或是走路。虽然我很享受这种生活，可是我也很羡慕那些有车的朋友，他们可以随时出发，去任何他们想去的地方。现在我有一辆小型摩托车，我非常喜欢它。不过说实话，有些日子我更希望我能有辆汽车，比如天气很冷的时候，我很需要车里的暖气。不过有辆小型摩托车也很方便，而且很便宜。我可以在任何时间去任何地方。我不用找停车场。停车是免费的。我可以把我的摩托车放在路边，不用交停车费。我很享受这点。而且感觉更酷。我认为无论我生活在哪里，无论我去哪里，即使有一天我会买辆车，我也希望有一辆小型摩托车或是摩托车，因为我感觉这令人感到兴奋。

Jeremy: As a scooter driver though, do you ever feel intimidated by the cars on the road? I mean, is it dangerous do you think driving a scooter around?
杰里米：你在路上骑小型摩托车时，有没有被汽车吓倒？我是问，你有没有觉得骑小型摩托车很危险？

Abidemi: That is a very good question. It's true. When you talk about road rage, people being—road rage is one thing when it's car versus car. But when you're on a scooter and you can't go as fast as the other drivers, and they are behind you. Although, they're very polite, sometimes, they don't honk but you can feel them coming behind you. So I try to drive as close to the edge as possible. At times, I just had to pull over because I don't want you to hit me. I know you want to get to where you want to go and you're faster than me. So I just pull to the side, let the car pass and just go my way. So it's true. It is safety. You have to be really safe and conscientious and just have to pay attention to what you're doing.
阿比德米：这是一个非常好的问题。没错。在谈到路怒时，汽车之间产生问题时，通常会引发路怒。不过小型摩托车的速度没有汽车那么快，汽车一直从后面赶上来。虽然他们很有礼貌，他们没有按喇叭，可是能感觉到后面的汽车。所以我在骑摩托车时尽量靠近路边。有时，我不得不把车停在路边，因为我不想被车撞到。我知道他们有想去的地方，而且他们的速度比我快。所以我就把我的小型摩托车停在路边，让汽车先过去，然后我再继续往前骑。没错。安全很重要。一定要保证安全，要谨慎，注意自己的行为。

Jeremy: Sounds like you have the right attitude as a scooter driver.
杰里米：听起来作为小型摩托车驾驶者有很端正的态度。

Abidemi: I try. I try. I want to be safe.
阿比德米：我尽量，尽量。我想确保安全。

Jeremy: Yeah.
杰里米：对。