0008 The Commute Home and Running Errands

[Start of story]

It’s five o’clock and it’s quitting time. I put a few files into my bag, grab my mug, and say goodnight to the rest of the people in my area. I go to the parking garage and get into my car. I signal my turn onto the street and drive toward the freeway onramp. I merge as best as I can onto the freeway, which is always a bit of a hassle at this hour. Traffic is stop-and-go all the way from downtown. I hear on the radio that there’s a stalled car in fast lane near La Brea, backing up traffic all the way to Hoover. I decide to get off the freeway and to take surface streets for the rest of the trip.

I need to make a stop on the way home. I know that the fridge is empty, so I decide to stop by the market. I get there and I pick up some French bread, a bag of apples, a few bananas, some pasta, tomato sauce, and a cooked chicken. Luckily, they have a lot of checkout stands open, and I get through the line pretty quickly. I thank the cashier and the bagger and push my cart to my car. I open the trunk and load everything up. Just then my wife calls me on my cell phone. She was going to be a little late getting home and asks me to make something for dinner. Tonight, I will be the cook.

[End of story]

This episode is called “The Commute Home and Running Errands.” “Commute,” you know, means driving back and forth from your house to your work. “To run an errand” (errand) means to do something, usually something outside of your house. For example, going to the grocery store, going to the drug store, stopping by the post office to mail a letter, these are things that you have to do that are not part of your work but that you need to do in your daily life. And, we call these things errands, and the verb is to run an errand.

Our story says, “It's five o'clock and it's quitting time.” “Quitting time” is the time that you stop working. “To quit” (quit) means to stop, so quitting time is the time that you stop working at the end of the day. “I put a few files into my bag,” I “grab my mug,” - my coffee mug - and I “say goodnight to the rest of the people in my area.” If you work at a big company, usually you are divided into smaller groups that work on the same topic - the same type of work. So, there is an accounting section and there is a sales section. One way to describe those smaller groups is an area, so people in your area would be people who work next to you on the same things that you do.

“I go to the parking garage and get into my car. I signal my turn onto the street.” “To signal” (signal) means to indicate, and in a car it means to turn on what we call the “blinker” (blinker). The blinker is what indicates whether you are going to turn left or right. So, when you are driving your car and you want to make a turn, you have to signal, are you going left or are you going right. And of course, in the back of the car, there's a little light that goes on and off, we would say it “flashes” (flashes). “To flash” means to go on and off quickly.

So, “I signal my turn” - left or right - “onto the street and drive toward the freeway onramp. I merge as best as I can onto the freeway.” “To merge” on the freeway or to merge when you are driving means that there are two lanes - two cars next to each other - but the road is getting more narrow. The road becomes smaller and now you only have one lane, so these two lines of cars have to go into the same lane, and we call that merging. “To merge” (merge) as a verb means to take two things and to put them together. We talk about companies that merge; one company buys another company and they merge - they come together. Well, in traffic when you are driving, to merge means to go from two lanes to one lane, and you have to go into and combine with another lane of traffic.

“I merge as best as I can, which is always a bit of a hassle at this hour.” A “hassle” (hassle) is the same as a problem. So, it “is always a bit of,” meaning a little bit - somewhat of a problem “at this hour. Traffic is stop-and-go all the way from downtown.” We use that word “traffic” (traffic) to mean the cars on the street or the cars on the freeway. You may ask someone, “How was traffic?” and they may say, “Oh, it was terrible. Traffic was really bad on the freeway this afternoon.” So, it refers to the number of cars and how easy it is to move on the freeway or the street. When we say traffic is “stop-and-go,” we mean that cars are stopping then they go forward maybe ten feet, 20 feet, then they stop again. When there are too many cars on the freeway or on a road, you cannot just drive straight through, you have to stop, wait for the other car and then go, so stop-and-go traffic means that the traffic is moving very slowly.

“I hear on the radio that there’s a stalled car in the fast lane near La Brea.” I'm listening to the radio - to the drive time traffic report, and they tell me that there is a stalled car. “To stall” (stall) means here to stop - to stop working. It doesn't mean that the car will never run again - will never work again. Usually, when we use the verb stall, we mean that it is stopped for a temporary time because it has some problem. So, a stalled car is a car that has stopped working, and if you are on the freeway and your car stalls, you will, of course, cause a problem for the other drivers. Normally, you try to get your car onto the shoulder. The shoulder is the part of the freeway where you can stop your car and not get in the way of anyone else. It's on the right hand side or the left hand side; you can have a shoulder on either side of the freeway.

The car that is stalled is in the fast lane. The fast lane on an American freeway or highway is the first lane on the left, what we would say the far left lane if there are more than three lanes or more than two lanes on the freeway. Here in Southern California we have freeways that have six or seven lanes, so if you want to go fast, normally you go to the lane that is in the far left - the first lane on the left; that's the fast lane. Not everyone drives fast in the fast lane, but it's the common understanding among drivers that if you are in the fast lane, you should go faster than the other cars.

Well, this car is “stalled in the fast lane near La Brea.” “La Brea” is a name of a street here in Los Angeles, and the car is “backing up traffic all the way to Hoover.” “Hoover” is another street here in LA. “To back up traffic” means that the cars are stopped behind you. When we say there is a backup on the freeway, we mean that the cars are moving very slowly or they're stopped, usually because there's an accident, there's construction - they're fixing the freeway and they have one of the lanes closed, or, in our story, it's because a stalled car is in the fast lane. So, the traffic is moving very slowly, it is backed up “all the way to Hoover,” meaning that beginning at Hoover Street, the cars are stopped or are going very slowly, and all the way to La Brea.

“I decide to get off the freeway and to take surface streets for the rest of the trip.” “Surface” (surface) means the top of something, but when we say surface streets, we mean the roads and streets that are not the freeway or the highway. So, the regular roads and streets we would call the surface streets.

“I need to make a stop on the way home,” I need to go somewhere before I go home. “I know that the fridge is empty, so I decide to stop by the market.” “Fridge” (fridge) is another way of saying refrigerator - it's a short way of saying refrigerator. The fridge is where you put food to keep it cold. So, my fridge is empty which means I don't have any food, so I decide to go to the market. The market here means the supermarket, a place where you can buy food, or it could be a smaller market, what we might call a corner market; that would be a small store. Often, they are located at the intersection - at the corner of two streets.

I get to the market and I pick up some food. “I pick up some French bread,” which is a type of bread, I pick up “a bag of apples,” I get “a few bananas, some pasta,” because I love pasta, some “tomato sauce,” for my pasta, “and a cooked chicken.” In many American supermarkets, you can buy a small chicken that is already cooked for you, so you can just take it home and eat it. If you are lazy, like me, this is a very good way to get some good food, and it is not very expensive. I think it's about maybe six or seven dollars for a cooked chicken. I like to take the chicken and put it into the pasta and tomato sauce and mix them all together.

“Luckily,” the supermarket has “a lot of checkout stands open.” A “checkout stand” is the place where you pay for your food. The verb “to checkout,” (checkout) means to leave and to pay. We use that verb when we are talking about the supermarket. We also use it when we are talking about a hotel. “I'm going to checkout of the hotel,” that means I'm going to leave the hotel and, I hope, pay. A “stand” (stand) here just means the place where you pay for something.

Well, “I get through the” checkout “line pretty quickly” - very quickly. “I thank the cashier,” (cashier) - the cashier is the person who takes my money - “and the bagger,” (bagger) - this is the person who puts your groceries into a bag. In some stores they do not have baggers; you have to bag your groceries yourself. Notice we use the word “bag” (bag) as a verb, meaning to put things into a bag. In American grocery stores you can have either a paper bag or a plastic bag.

Well, the bagger puts my food into my cart, and I “push my cart to my car.” My “cart” (cart) sometimes called a shopping cart, is what you use to move or to take your food to your car - what you put your food into when you are shopping. It's a little like a big box - metal box with wheels on it. So, it helps you move things, you don't have to carry them yourself.

“I open the trunk and load everything up.” “To load up” means to put things into, in this case, your car. So, if someone says, “I'm going to load up my car,” (load) up, they mean they're going to put the things that they need to put into their car. We often use that verb when we are talking about moving something in your car, or going on a trip.

“Just then my wife calls me on my cell phone. She was going to be a little late” this evening. She says she is not going to get home at her normal time, and so she “asks me to make something for dinner.” This is not a good idea since I am not a good cook, but I, of course, say yes. “Tonight, I will be the cook” - the person making the food.

Glossary
quitting time – the end of the business day; time to leave work and go home

• At quitting time, they all turn off their computers, put on their jackets, and walk to the metro station.

to signal – to do something (make a movement or turn on a light) to let other drivers know what you plan to do

• The car’s lights were broken so the driver had to signal where he was going by holding his arm out of the window.

to turn – to move right or left from one street onto another street

• Right-hand turns are not allowed here because the street is closed today.

to merge – to move your car into the flow of other, faster-moving cars

• Merging onto the freeway was one of the scariest parts of learning how to drive.

traffic – the flow of cars; the number and speed of cars

• Today there was so much traffic that driving home took almost two hours. Normally it’s a 40-minute drive.

stop-and-go – traffic that moves very slowly, with lots of stopping

• Southern California is well known for its stop-and-go traffic in the morning hours.

to stall – a car that is not working and has stopped in the road

• Her car stalled in the middle of the street so she had to ask other people to help her push it to the side of the road.

fast lane – the far left lane of a highway or freeway, where cars drive the fastest

• Grandpa always gets frustrated when he sees a slow-moving car in the fast lane.

to back up – to block traffic so that cars are stopped or moving very slowly for a certain distance behind the problem

• The accident has backed up traffic for four miles. Hopefully the police will clear the accident soon so that cars can begin moving again.

surface streets – roads within a city, not highways or freeways

• Driving on surface streets is slower than driving on a freeway, but it lets you see more interesting things.

fridge – short for refrigerator; a kitchen machine that keeps food cold

• Do we have any eggs in the refrigerator or do I need to buy more?

market – grocery store; a store that sells food and other household things

• Could you please buy some bread and milk at the market after work today?

cooked – food that has already been prepared; food that can be eaten right away or only needs to be heated to eat

• This meat is already cooked so it won’t take long to make the sandwiches.

checkout stand – the place where one pays for food bought at a market

• Sir, this checkout stand is only for customers who have 10 or fewer items.

cashier – the person who takes customers’ money and gives them receipts

• That store is hiring cashiers who are friendly and are good at math.

bagger – the person who puts a customer’s purchases into a plastic or paper bag

• That bagger must be new because he’s putting the milk on top of the eggs. They’re going to break!

cart – a large container with wheels that is used to carry food purchases in a market and to one’s car

• How did this bag of candy get into my shopping cart? My children must have put it there when I wasn’t looking.

to load up – to put purchases or other items into a car; to put a lot of things into a space

• As soon as we load up the car with these suitcases, we’ll be ready to drive to the airport.

Culture Note
Lawyers

Lawyers typically “advise” (give advice to) and “represent” (speak for) clients in courts, at government agencies, or in private legal matters. They also “interpret” (help others understand) laws, “rulings” (official court decisions), and “regulations” (rules; laws) for individuals and businesses.

Most lawyers work mainly in offices. However, some travel to attend meetings with “clients” (customers) at various locations, such as homes, hospitals, or “prisons” (where the police place people suspected or convicted of crimes). Some lawyers gather “evidence” (things showing someone’s guilt of innocence); others appear in court.

Becoming a lawyer usually takes seven years of full-time study after high school. This includes four years of “undergraduate study” (first four years of college) followed by three years of law school. Most states require future lawyers to complete a juris doctor (J.D.) degree from a law school “accredited by” (given official permission by) the American Bar Association (ABA), which is the national organization that gives individuals permission to work as lawyers.

Law students often gain “practical” (work; hands-on) experience by participating in school-sponsored “legal clinics” (where people can go for free or low-cost legal advice),, in practice “trials” (the arguing of a case in court) under the supervision of experienced lawyers and judges, and through research and writing on legal issues for a school’s law “journals” (academic or school publication).

Part-time or summer jobs in law “firms” (companies), government agencies, and “corporate” (a large company’s) legal departments also provide valuable experience. These experiences can help law students decide what kind of legal work they want to focus on in their careers. These experiences may also lead directly to a job after “graduation” (completion of a degree).

Becoming licensed as a lawyer is called being "admitted to the bar" and licensing exams are called "bar exams." To practice law in any state, a person must be admitted to its bar under rules established by that state. The requirements vary from state to state.

[故事开始]

现在是五点，是辞职时间。我把一些文件放进包里，拿起我的杯子，和我所在地区的其他人说晚安。我走到停车场，上了我的车。我示意转到街上，然后开向高速公路的匝道。我尽可能地并入高速公路，在这个时间段，这总是有点麻烦。从市区出发，一路的交通都是走走停停的。我从收音机里听到，在拉布雷亚附近的快车道上有一辆停滞不前的汽车，使交通一直倒退到胡佛。我决定离开高速公路，在接下来的行程中走地面街道。

我需要在回家的路上停一下。我知道冰箱是空的，所以我决定去市场看看。我到了那里，买了一些法国面包，一袋苹果，几根香蕉，一些意大利面，番茄酱，还有一只熟鸡。幸运的是，他们有很多收银台开着，我很快就排到了。我感谢收银员和装袋员，然后把我的车推到我的车上。我打开后备箱，把所有东西都装上。就在这时，我的妻子用我的手机给我打电话。她要晚一点回家，要我为晚餐做一些东西。今晚，我将成为厨师。

[故事结束]

这一集叫 "通勤回家和跑腿"。"通勤"，你知道，是指从你家到你工作的地方来回开车。"跑腿"（errand）是指做一些事情，通常是在你家以外的地方。例如，去杂货店，去药店，顺便去邮局寄信，这些都是你必须做的事情，不是你工作的一部分，但你在日常生活中需要做。而且，我们称这些事情为差事，动词是跑腿。

我们的故事说，"现在是五点，是辞职时间"。"辞职时间 "是指你停止工作的时间。"辞职"（quit）的意思是停止，所以辞职时间是你在一天结束时停止工作的时间。"我把一些文件放进我的包里，"我 "拿起我的杯子，"--我的咖啡杯--然后我 "和我所在地区的其他人说晚安"。如果你在一家大公司工作，通常你会被分成一些小的小组，这些小组就同一主题--同一类型的工作进行工作。因此，有一个会计部门，有一个销售部门。描述这些小团体的一种方式是一个区域，所以你区域里的人将是在你旁边工作的人，与你做同样的事情。

"我去停车场，进入我的车。我给我转到街上的信号。" "打信号"（signal）的意思是指示，在汽车上它意味着打开我们称之为 "闪烁器"（blinker）的东西。眨眼器是指示你是要左转还是右转。因此，当你驾驶你的汽车，你想转弯时，你必须发出信号，你是向左还是向右。当然，在汽车的后面，有一个小灯，会开和关，我们会说它 "闪"（闪动）。"闪 "的意思是快速地开和关。

所以，"我打信号转弯"--左转或右转--"上街，然后开向高速公路的匝道。我尽可能地合并到高速公路上"。在高速公路上 "并线"，或在你开车时并线，意味着有两条车道--两辆车挨在一起--但道路越来越窄了。道路变得更小，现在你只有一条车道，所以这两行车必须进入同一条车道，我们称之为合并。"合并"（merge）作为一个动词，意味着把两样东西放在一起。我们谈论公司合并；一家公司收购另一家公司，然后它们合并--它们走到一起。那么，在交通方面，当你开车时，合并意味着从两条车道变成一条车道，你必须进入另一条车道并与之结合。

"我尽可能地合并，在这个时候总是有点麻烦。" "麻烦"（hasssle）和问题是一样的。所以，它 "总是有点，"意思是有点--有点问题，"在这个时间点。从市中心一路走来，交通都是走走停停"。我们用这个词 "交通"（traffic）是指街上的汽车或高速公路上的汽车。你可能会问某人，"交通情况如何？"他们可能会说，"哦，太糟糕了。今天下午高速公路上的交通真的很糟糕。" 所以，它指的是汽车的数量，以及在高速公路或街道上移动的便利程度。当我们说交通是 "走走停停 "时，我们的意思是，汽车正在停止，然后他们向前走，也许10英尺，20英尺，然后他们再次停止。当高速公路或道路上有太多的汽车时，你不能直接开车通过，你必须停下来，等待其他汽车，然后再走，所以走走停停的交通意味着交通的速度非常慢。

"我从广播中听到，在拉布雷亚附近的快车道上有一辆停滞的汽车。" 我在听广播--听开车时间的交通报告，他们告诉我有一辆停滞的汽车。"停滞"（stall）在这里是指停止--停止工作。它并不意味着汽车将永远不会再运行--将永远不会再工作。通常，当我们使用动词stall时，我们的意思是，因为它有一些问题而暂时停止。因此，停滞的汽车是指已经停止工作的汽车，如果你在高速公路上，你的汽车停滞了，你当然会给其他司机带来麻烦。通常情况下，你会尝试把你的车开到路肩上。路肩是高速公路的一部分，在那里你可以把你的车停下来，而不妨碍其他人的通行。它在右手边或左手边；你可以在高速公路的任何一侧有一个路肩。

停滞不前的车在快车道上。美国高速公路或公路上的快车道是左边的第一条车道，如果高速公路上有三条以上的车道或两条以上的车道，我们会说最左边的车道。在南加州，我们的高速公路有六条或七条车道，所以如果你想开快车，通常你会开到最左边的车道--左边的第一条车道；那是快车道。不是每个人都在快车道上开快车，但司机们的共识是，如果你在快车道上，你应该比其他车开得快。

那么，这辆车是 "停在拉布雷亚附近的快车道上"。"拉布雷亚 "是洛杉矶这里的一条街道的名字，而这辆车 "一路倒车到胡佛"。"胡佛 "是洛杉矶这里的另一条街道。"倒车 "是指汽车停在你后面。当我们说高速公路上有一个备份时，我们的意思是，汽车行驶得非常慢，或者它们停了下来，通常是因为有一个事故，有施工--他们正在修复高速公路，他们有一个车道被关闭，或者，在我们的故事中，是因为一辆停滞的汽车在快速车道上。因此，交通流动非常缓慢，"一直倒退到胡佛"，意思是说，从胡佛街开始，汽车停了下来，或者走得非常慢，一直到拉布雷亚。

"我决定离开高速公路，在剩下的行程中走地面街道。" "表面"（surface）是指事物的顶部，但当我们说表面街道时，我们指的是高速公路或公路以外的道路和街道。因此，普通的道路和街道我们称之为地面街道。

"我需要在回家的路上做个停留，"我需要在回家之前去某个地方。"我知道冰箱是空的，所以我决定在市场边上停下来。" "Fridge"（冰箱）是冰箱的另一种说法--它是冰箱的简称。冰箱是你放置食物以保持其低温的地方。所以，我的冰箱是空的，这意味着我没有任何食物，所以我决定去市场。这里的市场指的是超市，一个你可以买到食物的地方，也可能是一个较小的市场，我们可能称之为角落市场；那将是一个小商店。通常，它们位于十字路口--两条街道的拐角处。

我到了市场，买了一些食物。"我拿起一些法国面包，"这是一种面包，我拿起 "一袋苹果，"我得到 "几根香蕉，一些意大利面，"因为我喜欢意大利面，一些 "番茄酱，"用于我的意大利面，"和一只熟鸡。" 在许多美国超市里，你可以买到一只已经为你煮好的小鸡，所以你可以直接带回家吃。如果你像我一样懒惰，这是一个非常好的方法，可以得到一些好的食物，而且不是很贵。我想一只熟鸡大概是六或七美元。我喜欢把鸡肉放在意大利面和番茄酱里，然后把它们混合在一起。

"幸运的是，"超市有 "很多收银台开放"。"结账台 "是你为食物付款的地方。动词 "结账，"（checkout）的意思是离开和付款。我们在谈论超市时使用这个动词。当我们谈论一家酒店时，我们也使用它。"我要去酒店结账，"这意味着我要离开酒店，并且，我希望能付款。这里的 "站"（stand）只是指你支付东西的地方。

好吧，"我很快就通过了 "结帐 "的队伍"--非常快。"我感谢收银员，"（收银员）--收银员是收我钱的人--"还有装袋员，"（装袋员）--这是把你的杂货装进袋子的人。在一些商店里，他们没有装袋员；你必须自己把你的食品袋装起来。注意我们把 "袋"（bag）这个词用作动词，意思是把东西装进袋子里。在美国的杂货店里，你可以有一个纸袋或一个塑料袋。

好吧，装袋员把我的食物放进我的手推车，而我 "把我的手推车推到我的车上"。我的 "手推车"（cart）有时被称为购物车，是你用来移动或把食物送到车上的东西--你在购物时把食物放进的东西。它有点像一个大盒子--上面有轮子的金属盒子。因此，它可以帮助你移动东西，你不必自己拿着它们。

"我打开后备箱，把所有东西都装起来。" "装起来 "的意思是把东西放进去，在这种情况下，就是你的车。因此，如果有人说，"我要把我的车装起来"，（装）起来，他们的意思是他们要把他们需要的东西放进他们的车里。当我们在谈论用你的车搬东西，或去旅行时，我们经常使用这个动词。

"就在这时，我妻子用手机给我打电话。她今天晚上要晚一点"。她说她不打算在正常时间回家，所以她 "要求我为晚餐做一些东西"。这不是一个好主意，因为我不是一个好的厨师，但我，当然，说好。"今晚，我将是厨师"--做食物的人。

文化说明
律师

律师通常在法庭、政府机构或私人法律事务中为客户提供 "建议"（提供意见）和 "代表"（发言）。他们还为个人和企业 "解释"（帮助他人理解）法律、"裁决"（法院的正式决定）和 "法规"（规则；法律）。

大多数律师主要在办公室工作。然而，有些律师会前往不同地点参加与 "客户"（顾客）的会议，如家庭、医院或 "监狱"（警方安置犯罪嫌疑人或被定罪者的地方）。一些律师收集 "证据"（显示某人有罪或无罪的东西）；另一些律师出庭。

成为一名律师通常需要在高中毕业后进行七年的全日制学习。这包括四年的 "本科学习"（大学的前四年），然后是三年的法学院学习。大多数州要求未来的律师从美国律师协会（ABA）"认可"（获得官方许可）的法学院完成法学博士（J.D.）学位，该协会是允许个人作为律师工作的全国性组织。

法学院的学生通常通过参加学校主办的 "法律诊所"（人们可以去那里获得免费或低价的法律咨询），在有经验的律师和法官的监督下进行实践 "审判"（在法庭上争论一个案件），以及通过为学校的法律 "期刊"（学术或学校出版物）研究和撰写法律问题来获得 "实践"（工作；动手）经验。

在法律 "事务所"（公司）、政府机构和 "公司"（大公司）法律部门的兼职或暑期工作也提供了宝贵的经验。这些经验可以帮助法律学生决定他们在职业生涯中想要专注于哪种法律工作。这些经验也可能直接导致 "毕业"（完成学位）后的工作。

获得律师执照被称为 "获得律师资格"，执照考试被称为 "律师考试"。要在任何一个州从事法律工作，一个人必须根据该州制定的规则获得其律师资格。各州的要求各不相同。