美国的自行车一族.pdfVIP

美国的自行车一族 进入本世纪中叶，自行车在美国作为旅行工具已被小车所取代，甚至中学生开始驾车上学。 现在，美国人在马路上骑的自行车不是为了代步，而是以锻炼身体为目的。美国的街道上一 般没有自行车专用道，因此，骑自行车时得特别小心才是。在行驶中，若要转弯时，需作出 相应的手势：向左转弯伸出左手示意即可，向右转弯时，仍要伸出左手，弯肘，使前臂与地 面形成角度，手臂与头部基本平齐。 Cycling While the rest of the world carried on cycling during the 1950s and 1960s, America forgot how;even high-school children would drive to school. Recently there has been something of a renaissance in cycling, and in many areas it is a very useful way of getting around , especially where bike paths or bike routes have been established. You may well want to buy, hire or borrow a bike. There are two important consequences( 后果 ) of this earlier decline in cycling in the USA. One is that many people do not know how to cycle. That is, cyclists often behave more like pedestrians( 行人 ) than motorists: they rid e on the pavement( 人行道 ) or on the wrong side of the road; they ignore stop signs and traffic lights; they ride without lights at night;they give no hand signal( 示 意 ). The other consequence is that cycling is regarded by many people not so much as a way of getting from A to B but as a way of life, a form of exercise, etc. As a result , large number of young Americans have ten-speed racing bikes. These are very hight and fast and great if you are cycli ng long distance , riding up mountains or racing. At first , though, you may find them awkward( 笨拙 ) for cycling in town, sight-seeing or shopping--they are expensive, uncomfortable and hard to control until you get used to them, and unsuitable for bumpy(崎岖不平的 ) groundor stony roads. There are also ordinary bikes around. If you get hold of one of these ,you may find that the brake( 刹车 ) work by pedaling( 踩踏板 ) backwards. This is perhaps safer than ordinary brakes when it is wet, but it see