美国文化生活十日谈（五、六）

（五） 在美国租车

在美国租车旅行既节省开支，又方便舒适，更是浪漫刺激。驾车旅行必须严格遵守交通规则：系上安全带；按交通灯指示行驶；如遇校车（一律为黄色）停下接送学生，双向行驶的所有车辆必须停止；按规定车速驾驶，车在高速公路上行驶时，其最低时速为40英里，最高时速只能在65英里左右，市内时速一般在25至35英里之间。停车也有许多限制，千万记住：绝不能将车停在消防龙头的前面。

Rental Cars

It costs surprisingly little to rent a car in the United States. You do not need an international or American driver's license （执照）to rent a car; you can use your national license in most cases.

When you rent a car, we suggest getting a rate with unlimited mileage(无里程限制), you pay a fixed rate per day and can drive as many miles as you wish. Compare the company's rates--you may find interesting holiday or weekend rates, or international wisitor rates.

Most Americans drive and rent cars with automatic transmission(自动变速), meaning you don't have to change gears(挡) manually.

Note that, surprisingly enough, some car rental companies will not accept cash--you need a credit card. (They can then trace you if you've stolen or damaged the car.)

It is vevy often possible to get a "one-way rental": you rent a car in one place and leave it in another. This can be extremely convenient, although it is normallly more expensive. Prices may vary according to what time of the week it is, as well whether mileage(里程) is included or not. It is worthwile checking around different firms to see which has the best arangemetns for you particular plans.

Choosing Your Car

Ameerican cars are generally much larger and heavier than Japanese cars, although there is now a big increase in the production of smaller cars.

The larger cars are extremely comfortable and relaxing to drive , but they do not generally handle or corner as well as smallr cars. Besides, they consume(消耗) large amount of gasoline(汽油).

For larger American cars terms such as "economy", "mid-size" and "luxury" are used.

If you are anxious about changing gear with the wrong hand, it is a good idea to choose and automatic, even if you are more familiar with a gear lever. it takes no time to adapt to (适应) automatic transmission.

American Roads

In some respects American roads are a good deal better than those in many other countries. They are, for instance, generally much wider and straighter.

Driving on the Right

When driving, you should always drive on the right side of the road. You will have to remember that the mirror, hand brake and gear lever are all on your right, and that you should look over you right shoulder when reversing(倒车).

Rules of the Road

You will learn these if you get a driver's license. Driving rules and customs vary from state to state, but these are some general respects in which they differ from those in other countries.

Traffic lights American traffic lights go green-amber(琥珀色)-red-green. In most cities, you can make a right-hand turn at a red traffic light after you have stopped and verified(证实) that you can enter traffic safely. There are some places,like New York City, where you cannot make right-hand turns on red. You must also give way to pedestrians crossing at lights.

American has four-way stop instead of round-about(环形路). A four-way stop is not a traffic light. it is indicated by a special stop sign thay says "4-way" beneath it. All cars must stop completely at a four-way stop before they continue throught the intersection (十字街口). The car that reaches the intersection first is the first one to leave (first-in, first-out for the computer scientists out there ). If two or more cars arriver at the same time, the one on the right leaves first . If you cars arrive at the same time, the bravest leaves first!

Seat Belts

The wearing of seat belts is now not compulsory(强制的) in the USA, but it is in some of the states. You should also bear in mind that some insurance companies will not cover you for injuries if you are not wearing one.

School Buses Because of the inadequacy of public transport systems in the USA, most areas hae special school bues(which take children to and from school lonce a day, five days a week, and do nothing at all for most of the rest of the time). These are usually painted yellow.When they stop to take on or drop off children they display flashing red lights, and it is then illegal(非法的) to pass the bus, even if you are going in the opposite direction on the other side of the road. All traffic must stop.

The Police

If a policeman in a police car wants you to stop,he will not overtake(超过) you and stop you from in front. Instead he will drive aling behind you flashing his overhead lights, which are usually red(sometimes yellow or blue). Once you have stopped, you'd better stay in your car and let te policeman come to you.

Keep your hand visible, and don't do anything that might look as if you were going for a gun. Have you driving license ready-it will be the first thing that the policeman asks for .

Speed

The speed limit in cities is usually 25-35 miles per hour. On highways, it can vary between 55 and 65. On the highway, there is a minimum(最低的) speed limit as well as a maximum(最高的). This minimum speed limit is 40 miles(64 kilometers) per hour, unless otherwise indicated. If car trouble or bad weather forces you to drive more slowly than this, you should switch on you hazard-warning(危险警示) lights. The overall top speed limit is 65 miles( about 105 kilometers) per hour. This is rigidly enforced in many areas. If you really feel that you want to go faster, see what other drivers are doing.

The Road Numbering System

The interstate(州际的) highway system use even(偶数的) numbers for east-west roads and odd(奇数) numbers for north-south roads(the I-80 goes from New York to San Francisco, for example, and I-55 from Chicago to New orleans).

Parking Rules

You will see several types of paring regulation signs." No parking" means your can stop the car to let someone in or out , but you cannot park between the sign and the next one. "No stopping " and "No standing" mean you can't even stop to take or drop off passengers.

You must no park in front of a fire-hydrant(消防龙头). It is important to remember this beacause there will be no signs anywhere to tell you. Fire-hydrants are easily recognized: they are large metal curbside(路边的) objects, perhaps two feet high, with parking spaces in front of them.

You must park in the direction of traffic flow, even in the daytime . This means that there is no way you can get to a parking space on the other side of the road unless you go round the block and come back.

At some urban parking lots you have to leave your car keys with an attendant and he parks your car for you.

（六） 美国人的酒

酒的种类

美国的酒大致可分为啤酒、鸡尾酒、威士忌和葡萄酒。啤酒有淡啤酒和浓啤酒之别；包装采用瓶装、听装和壶装。鸡尾酒和“混合饮料”含有很浓的酒精成分，饮用方式一般有加冰和不加冰两种，其配制方式各种各样。威士忌也是一种烈性酒，而且呈油状，分为黑麦威士忌和苏格兰威士忌。葡萄酒分为红、白两种，但值得注意的是：标有“Chablis”商标的葡萄酒并非法国所产的无甜味的白葡萄酒，而是美国加利弗尼亚州生产的白葡萄酒，该酒在美国享有盛誉。

Beer

American beer, with very few exceptions, varies from the mediocre(普通的) to the terrible. There are not many types of beer in the US—"light" and "dark" are two terms commonly used.

It is therefore normal to order beer simply by brand name. In a restaurant, in fact, it is quite all right to order "a beer", and they will tell you what they have.

It is not necessary, either, to specify quantity when ordering beer. If it comes in bottles or cans, you will get a bottle or can, and if it's "on tap"(可以随时取用的) you will get a glass, unless you order a "pitcher"(有嘴和柄的大酒罐 i.e.a jug). The latter is very convenient thing to do, since you can then take the jug and glasses to your table and keep filling up without going back to the bar. (It is harder, however, to know how much you have drunk.)

Some beer comes in bottles with tops that look as if they need an opener, but you can, in fact, screw(拧开) them off by hand—though you have to be very careful not to hurt yourself. It is possible, in some stores and bars, to find a wide selection of beer from all over the world, especially Western Europe and Australia, and it is good fun to experiment with these.

Cocktails

Cocktails and "mixed drinks" are much more popular and rather stronger in the USA than in Europe, and visitors may not be familiar with some of the terminology(术语). "On the rocks", as you probably know, means with ice, while "straight up" or "up" means neat and without ice.

There are hundreds of different cocktails, and there is no space here to list all the different names.

The Hard Stuff

In America "whiskey" means bourbon(一种烈性威士忌酒，最初为美国肯塔基州Bourbon地区所产) unless otherwise indicated. Bourbon is a rather oily spirit made from maize(玉米). Rye(黑麦威士忌酒) whiskey is called "rye" and Scotch whiskey "Scotch".

Wine

In bars wine can often be bought by the glass. Don't be misled by names such as "Chablis" is used to refer to white wine, and "Burgundy" to red—Americans seem never to have heard of white Burgundy.

饮酒与法律

在美国及各州、市、县对饮酒都制定了相关的法律。顾客要饮酒必须达到法定的年龄，一般规定在18至21岁以上。顾客进酒吧时，常需接受保安人员对其年龄进行核实。此时，只需出示自己的驾照或其他有效证件即可，因为这些证件上注有持证人的出生日期。

Alcohol(含酒精的饮料) and the law

It is difficult to give a des cription of American laws concerning alcohol because they vary from state to state and city to city. The following, though, may be noted.

Some towns,even state are totally is sold at all except that they allow the sale of very weak (3.2 percent alcohol) beer,known as "three-two" beer. Some places do not allow the sale of alcohol on Sundays, even in shops—you may find a bar locked over the alcohol shelves. You can see it but not buy it! Other places permit alcohol to be sold on Sunday afternoons and evenings, but not on Sunday mornings. (Note that this means sales have to stop at midnight on Saturday.)In many parts of America, you are not allowed to drink alcohol in a public place.That is, you may not sit in a parkor walk along a street drinking beer, and you cannot even take a nice bottle of wine on your picnic. In some places, people can be seen taking drinks in public places from cans wrapped in brown-paper bags. These are not cans of Coca-Cola. And in many states you are not allowed to drink alcohol while driving, or even have an opened alcohol container in the car. Some bars have a license(执照) only for beer and wine. Others are also allowed to sell spirits(烈性酒) and thus, as Americans say, "mixed drinks".

Many bars have a period known as "happy hour", often longer than an hour, when they sell drinks at lower-than-usual prices. This is usually around 5 p.m. and may be only on certain days of the week.

The Legal Drinking Age

Legal drinking age varies from place to place but is generally between 18 to 21. Some places permit the consumption(消费) of beer at 18 but spirits only at 21. Others permit the consumption only of "three-two" beer from 18 to 21. (Young people therefore often drive from one place to another with more liberal drinking laws.) In any case, in some parts of the USA young people are allowed to vote, marry, raose children, keep full-time jobs, be tried in courts as adults, join the army and even buy guns—but NOT have a glass of beer. In some places people aged between 18 to 21 are allowed to go into bars but not allowed to drink.Another even more interesting aspect of American drinking-age laws is that in some places people below legal drinking age are not even allowed to sell alcohol.

Providing Proof of Your Age

In most places these drinking laws are fairly rigidly enforced(严格地实施). You may, for example, find people lining up to get into a bar and discover that the queue is caused by a guard on the door who is asking everybody for ID(身份证). If you ask him why he wants to know who you are, he will inform you that he actually wants confirmation(确认) of how old you are. On such occasions Americans often show their driving licenses, which have their date of birth written on them.