Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast, number 726, Taking the Driving Test.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast, episode 726.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com.
Download this episode's learning guide an 8 to 10, maybe 12-page learning guide that gives you additional help in improving your English.
Trust me, it will help.
This episode is called Taking the Driving Test, about taking a test to get your driver's license for a car.
Let's get started.
I just took the driving test.
See this?
That's my new license.
There's nothing to worry about.
It was easy.
I'm not worried about the written test, It's the driving test I'm worried about.
I haven't had a lot of practice.
What did you have to do?
Well, we got into the car and I fastened my seatbelt.
The examiner had me drive around the block checking to see that I stopped at the stop signs and traffic signals.
That sounds okay.
Did you have to drive on the freeway?
Yeah, I went on the on-ramp and merged into traffic.
She had me change lanes and accelerate to pass another driver.
Just don't forget to signal and don't go over the speed limit.
Did you have to parallel park?
That's what I'm most worried about.
Yeah, I parallel parked, but it was easy.
Why are you so worried about the test?
I told you, I haven't had very much practice.
Exactly how many times have you been behind the wheel?
Well, a few times, maybe two times, and that was around a parking lot.
Wow.
You'd better get more practice if you're going to take the test next week.
Could you... Uh, sorry, but I've got some place to be.
We begin with Cesar saying to May, I just took the driving test, meaning I took the test recently.
A driving test is an examination that you have to take in order to get your driving license.
In most U.S. states, you need to take two exams or two tests.
One is written and These are questions about the rules of the road, the laws of driving in that state.
Each state has slightly different laws, but they're basically the same.
The second test is what we call a behind-the-wheel test, where you actually have to go out with someone who gives you your score.
You have to do certain things driving on the street and if you do everything correct then you get your license, or most things correct.
If you don't hit another car or kill anyone, then you'll probably get your license in most places.
Cesar just took his driving test.
We assume it's the behind-the-wheel test.
He says, see this?
That's my new license.
That's his legal permission to drive.
That's what a license is.
License has some other meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for those.
May says, you have to give me the play-by-play.
Play-by-play is a detailed description of what happened.
In a sports game, you have different plays, different parts of the game.
Each little part of the game plays can be called a play, and on the television or radio, the person who describes everything that is happening in the game is giving the play-by-play a detailed description.
We use the expression more generally, outside of the sports world, to mean a detailed description of something that happened.
May says, I'm taking the test, the driving test, next week, and I'm freaking out.
To freak.
F-R-E-A-K out is a two-word phrasal verb used informally to mean get very worried or nervous about something, so much that it is controlling all of your thoughts and emotions.
Caesar says, there's nothing to worry about.
It was easy.
May says, I'm not worried about the written test.
It's the driving test I'm worried about.
So here, driving test refers to what I called before the behind the wheel test.
Why do we call it behind the wheel?
Well, we are talking about the round wheel that you use to direct the car, what we would say to steer the car.
In fact, it's called a steering wheel.
So behind the wheel means you are sitting there with the wheel in front of you, which means you are actually in the car driving.
Anyway, poor May is freaking out.
She's worried about the driving test or the behind the wheel driving test.
She says, I haven't had a lot of practice yet.
What did you have to do?
Describe what you had to do.
Cesar says, well, we got into the car and I fastened my seatbelt.
So he and the person we would call him or her, the examiner probably said got into the car and the first thing Cesar did was fasten his seat belt.
The seat belt is a long piece of material, of fabric, that goes across your chest and your waist to keep you in your seat.
You wear a seatbelt on an airplane when you are taking off, leaving or landing, coming down onto the ground.
You wear a seatbelt in a car.
In most states, perhaps in all of them, you are required to wear a seatbelt.
If you don't wear a seatbelt, you can be fined.
You will have to pay money if the police see you not wearing a seatbelt.
It's also, of course, just common sense.
It's good for your safety to wear a seatbelt.
So Cesar fastened his seatbelt.
To fasten F-A-S-T-E-N usually means to connect two things together so that they will stay together.
You are usually fastening things that can also easily come apart.
We usually use it when we are talking about rope or, in this case, the seatbelt, which is a long, narrow piece of material.
The examiner had me drive around the block checking to see that I stopped at the stop signs and traffic signals.
In a city, a block is a square area surrounded by four crossing streets.
Cesar drove around the block so the examiner could check to see that he stopped at the stop signs and traffic signals.
A stop sign is, in the United States, a red, eight-sided sign with the word stop in white letters.
That's a stop sign.
It tells you you must stop before going forward.
A traffic signal, sometimes called a semaphore, only by me, I think, means a box with three lights.
One is red.
One is yellow.
One is green.
That tells you if you need to stop.
That's the red color, of course.
If you can go, that's the green color.
Or if you need to prepare to stop, which would be the yellow color.
Well, we have traffic signals, usually where two streets cross what we would call an intersection, where they come at right angles to each other.
Sometimes you can have a traffic signal in front of what's called a pedestrian crossing, where people are allowed to walk across the street.
That could be in the middle of a long block and that might also have a traffic signal in some places.
But usually a traffic signal will be at an intersection where two streets cross and Mae says that sounds okay.
Did you have to drive on the freeway?
The freeway is a wide road with usually more than two lanes, two places where the cars can drive, and they drive very quickly without stopping.
Caesar says, yeah, I went on the on-ramp and merged into traffic.
The on-ramp, one word, is a little road that leads from the street to the freeway.
It's how you get on a freeway.
The opposite would be an off-ramp.
Caesar says that he had to merge into traffic.
To merge, M-E-R-G, is when two lanes of traffic have to come together.
So you have to either go in front of the car near you or behind the car that is near you.
Cesar says... that the examiner had him change lanes and accelerate to pass another driver.
To change lanes means to move your car from one lane on a freeway or on a street to another, but going in the same direction.
To accelerate means to drive faster, to increase your speed.
Then Cesar gives May some advice.
Just don't forget to signal and don't go over the speed limit.
To signal S-I-G-N-A-L here means to use the lights of your car to indicate that you are going to move into another lane or you are going to turn onto another street.
You have a right signal and a left signal in most cars.
The speed limit is the maximum allowed speed on a road.
In the United States, for a freeway in the city, it's usually 55 or 65 miles per hour.
Out in the country, away from the big cities, it can be as high as 70 or 75 miles an hour.
The word signal, I should mention, has some other meanings in English.
You can find those in the learning guide.
May says, Did you have to parallel park?
To parallel park means to park your car between two other cars.
Where you have to back your car up, go in reverse in order to get into a parking space in between two other cars.
That's often a very difficult thing for a beginning driver to do.
May says, that's what I'm most worried about.
Cesar said, yeah, I parallel parked, but it was easy.
Why are you so worried about the test?
May says, I told you, I haven't had very much practice.
Cesar says, exactly how many times have you been behind the wheel?
That is, how many times have you been out driving?
May says well, a few times, maybe two times, and that was around a parking lot, a place where you park your car.
Cesar says wow, you'd better get more practice if you're going to take the test next week, meaning you have to go and drive more so that you are ready to take the driving test.
Mays says, could you...
She doesn't finish her question, but she seems to be asking Cesar if Cesar would take her out driving to give her some practice.
That, of course, is a difficult thing to do, since the beginning driver doesn't always know what they are doing, and it can be a little dangerous for the person driving, as well as you.
In the United States.
If you pass the written test, you can then practice behind the wheel with someone who has a driver's license who, the idea is, will help you tell you what to do and not to do.
Cesar says, sorry, but I've got some place to be.
The expression I've got some place to be is a phrase you use to tell the person that you are busy.
You have another appointment, but you don't give them any details.
We often use this when we are lying and simply don't want to do what the other person is asking us to do.
You may say, for example, Can you watch my dog and cat while I'm on vacation?
And I will say, oh, I'm sorry, I've got some place to be for the next two weeks.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I just took the driving test.
See this?
That's my new license.
You have to give me the play-by-play.
I'm taking the test next week and I'm freaking out.
There's nothing to worry about.
It was easy.
I'm not worried about the written test.
It's the driving test I'm worried about.
I haven't had a lot of practice.
What did you have to do?
Well, we got into the car and I fastened my seatbelt.
The examiner had me drive around the block checking to see that I stopped at the stop signs and the traffic signals.
That sounds okay.
Did you have to drive on the freeway?
Yeah, I went on the on-ramp and merged into traffic.
She had me change lanes and accelerate to pass another driver.
Just don't forget to signal and don't go over the speed limit.
Did you have to parallel park?
That's what I'm most worried about.
Yeah, I parallel parked, but it was easy.
Why are you so worried about the test?
I told you, I haven't had very much practice.
Exactly how many times have you been behind the wheel?
Well, a few times, maybe two times, and that was around a parking lot.
Wow, you better get some practice if you're going to take the test next week.
Could you?
Uh, sorry, but I've got some place to be.
Her dialogues give us a play-by-play of life in the United States.
That's our own wonderful Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2011 by the Center for Educational Development.
