Daily English 1262 Failing a Driving Test

Dialogue/Story

Slow Speed begins at: 1:21
Explanation begins at: 3:20
Normal Speed begins at: 21:23

Complete Transcript

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 1,262 – Failing a Driving Test

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 1,262. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

This episode is a dialogue between Oleg and Daria about taking a test, an examination, in order to get your driver’s license. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Oleg: I failed!

Daria: What?! How could you have failed your driving test again?

Oleg: I got nervous and I did everything wrong.

Daria: Like what?

Oleg: When I accelerated, I ground my gears and raced the engine. The car jerked so hard that the examiner nearly fell off her seat.

Daria: Oh, that’s bad.

Oleg: Yeah, I know. I failed to stop at a traffic light and changed lanes in the intersection without signaling.

Daria: Yikes.

Oleg: The examiner told me to back off because I was tailgating the car in front of me. She also pointed out the speed limit because I had been speeding.

Daria: It couldn’t have gone much worse, could it?

Oleg: Oh yes, it could have and it did. When she warned me about my speed, I got so flustered that I slammed on the brakes and nearly caused an accident.

Daria: What did she say when that happened?

Oleg: She cried uncle and told me to take her back to the office as fast as humanly possible!

[end of dialogue]

Oleg says to Daria at the beginning of our dialogue, “I failed!” “To fail” (fail) means not to pass some test or examination, or simply to not obtain the result that you wanted to get – to not reach the goal you wanted to reach. “I failed to lose 20 pounds in one week.” If your goal was to lose 20 pounds in one week and you didn’t, you would say you “failed,” though that is probably not a very realistic goal. We usually think of the verb “to fail” as being opposite of the verb “to pass,” especially in school or related to some sort of test or examination.

Oleg failed. Daria says, “What?! How could you have failed your driving test again?” We learn now that Oleg failed his driving test. A “driving test” is an examination you must take in order to get a license to drive. In the United States, each state has its own exam, its own test, and when you move from one state to another, you often have to take the exam again, or at least the written exam, because there are actually two parts of the exam in most states.

There is a test that you take I suppose nowadays on a computer. I’m so old I remember taking the test using a piece of paper. If you pass that test, then you have to take what’s called a “behind the wheel test,” which means you get into a car with someone from the government and you have to demonstrate, show that you know how to drive. It sounds as though Oleg failed the “behind the wheel test,” or the test in the car.

Oleg says, “I got nervous and I did everything wrong.” Daria says, “Like what?” meaning “What did you do wrong?” Oleg explains, “When I accelerated, I ground my gears and raced the engine. The car jerked so hard that the examiner nearly fell off her seat.” “To accelerate” (accelerate) means to increase in speed, especially when you put your foot on what’s called the “gas pedal” (pedal) in order to make the car go faster. We call that “accelerating the car,” making the car go faster. The opposite of accelerate is “decelerate.”

Well, in Oleg’s case, when he accelerated, when he tried to make the car go faster by putting his foot on the gas pedal, he “ground the gears.” “To grind” (grind) – “ground” is the past tense of “grind” – “the gears” (gears) means to cause the car to make a loud noise as you change the gears from one to another, or go from one gear to another, I should say.

There are two basic kinds of cars. There are cars that have what is called a “manual (manual) transmission” and cars that have “automatic transmissions.” In a manual transmission, you have to change gears as the car goes faster or slower, and you have to do that each time you accelerate or decelerate. In an automatic transmission, you don’t have to do any of those things – at least, you don’t have to change gears from first gear to, say, fourth or fifth gear.

Most American cars nowadays have automatic transmissions, but I used to own a manual transmission, which we sometimes refer to as a “stick” (stick). A “stick” refers to the pole or stick that comes out of the transmission, into the center of the car that you use to change gears. So if someone asks you if you know how to “drive a stick” or a “stick shift” (shift), the person is referring to a car with a manual transition.

Oleg was driving a stick shift, or manual transmission car, and he didn’t know how to shift or change gears properly. So when he accelerated, he “ground the gears” – basically he failed to put his foot properly on another pedal or piece of metal near your feet called the “clutch” (clutch). You put your foot on the clutch in order to change from one gear to another. If you don’t do that correctly, you will end up grinding the gears, which is a very ugly sound.

Oleg says he “raced the engine” when he accelerated. “To race (race) the engine (engine)” means to take your car out of gear, we would say – that is, put your car in “neutral” (neutral) so that the car isn’t in any gear and then put your foot on the gas or your foot on the gas pedal, we would say. If you do that, the “motor” or the “engine” of the car will move very fast. It will make a loud noise but the car won’t move, because in order for the car to move, you have to be what we would describe as “in gear” – that is, you have to be or put the transmission into one of the gears – first, second, third, fourth, or, if you want to go backwards, reverse gear.

See, I’m teaching you how to drive as well as teaching you English today. In any case, Oleg didn’t do a very good job. He says, “The car jerked so hard that the examiner nearly fell off her seat.” The verb “to jerk” (jerk) here means to move suddenly or unexpectedly. So, if the car “jerked,” it’s moved quickly without you being ready for it. The “examiner” is the person from the government who decides if you pass or fail the driving test. This poor examiner “nearly,” or almost, “fell off her seat,” meaning she almost went from her seat to the floor of the car.

Daria says, “Oh, that’s bad.” Oleg says, “Yeah, I know. I failed to stop at a traffic light and changed lanes in the intersection without signaling.” A “traffic light” is a light that tells you whether you should stop where two streets cross, or go. In the U.S. and in many countries, the color red means you stop and green means you can go. If you don’t stop at a traffic light when the light is red, that of course is very bad and dangerous, as well as being against the law. When Oleg says he “failed to stop at a traffic light,” he means the traffic light was red and he was supposed to stop.

He also says he “changed lanes in the intersection.” “Lanes” (lanes) are the different sections of the street or the freeway in which the cars move. The “lanes” are usually separated by painted lines on the street or highway. “To change lanes” means to go from one lane to the next. The “intersection” (intersection) is where two streets cross, usually at a right or ninety-degree angle. You’re not supposed to change lanes when you are in the middle of an intersection.

Oleg also says that he “changed lanes without signaling” (signaling). “To signal” means to turn on the lights in your car that blink, or go on and off quickly, telling the other drivers what direction you’re going to move. If you are going to move from one lane to another, you are supposed to turn your signal on so that a light goes on and off at the back and front of your car, telling other drivers that you are going to move lanes. Oleg says he changed lanes “without signaling.” By the way, it doesn’t matter if you signal your lane change in the middle of an intersection or not; it’s illegal in most states to change lanes in an intersection even if you signal.
Daria says “Yikes,” which is an expression of surprise, usually at a bad thing. Oleg continues, “The examiner told me to back off because I was tailgating the car in front of me.” “To back off” is a two-word phrasal verb that here means to increase the distance between you and the person – or in this case, car – in front of you. If you are too close to the car in front of you, we sometimes call that “tailgating” (tailgating). “To tailgate” means to follow another car too closely so that if the other car were to stop quickly, you might cause an accident by hitting that car because you can’t stop quickly enough.

Here in Los Angeles, if you drive too slowly, cars will often tailgate you. They will come up right behind you to try to get you to move faster or to move to another lane so they can drive around you. Oleg was tailgating the car in front of him. The examiner also pointed out, or told him, the speed limit of the road on which they were driving. The “speed limit” is the maximum speed you can drive. In most freeways in the United States, you can drive between 60 and 70 miles per hour. In most city streets, the speed is much lower, from 25 to 40 miles an hour, typically.

The examiner pointed out the speed limit to Oleg because he had been “speeding.” “To speed” (speed) means to be driving faster than the speed limit – to be driving too fast. Daria says, “It couldn’t have gone much worse, could it?” meaning this was probably the worst that Oleg could have done. Oleg says, “Oh yes, it could have and it did,” meaning things actually got worse than what he has so far described.

He says, “When she,” the examiner, “warned me about my speed, I got so flustered that I slammed on the brakes and nearly caused an accident.” “To get flustered” (flustered) means to get confused or worried, usually because you are in a very stressful or difficult situation. Oleg got flustered and “slammed (slammed) on the brakes (brakes).” The “brakes” are what causes the car to slow down or stop.

“To slam on the brakes” means to put your foot very quickly and with a lot of pressure on what is called the “brake pedal.” There are basically three pieces of metal, called “pedals,” on the bottom of your car, near your feet. In most cars, there’s a gas pedal and a brake pedal, and in a manual transmission or stick there is also a clutch pedal. Oleg slammed on the brakes. He put his foot on the brake pedal very suddenly, and this nearly caused an accident because the car stopped quickly and no doubt the car behind him had difficulty stopping quickly as well.

Daria says, “What did she say when that happened?” Oleg says, “She” – again, the examiner – “cried uncle and told me to take her back to the office as fast as humanly possible!” “To cry (cry) uncle (uncle)” is a somewhat unusual phrase. It means to end an activity suddenly or to end a game suddenly, usually allowing the other person to win.

“To cry uncle” or “to say uncle” is, some people think, a very old expression that comes from the Romans. It’s used when you are basically giving up, when you are saying to the other person, “You win.” It’s used especially if the other person is forcing you to do something or you are doing so badly that you simply want to give up. Oleg said that the examiner “cried uncle.” She gave up on this exam and told Oleg to take her back to the office “as fast as humanly possible,” meaning very quickly.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Oleg: I failed!

Daria: What?! How could you have failed your driving test again?

Oleg: I got nervous and I did everything wrong.

Daria: Like what?

Oleg: When I accelerated, I ground my gears and raced the engine. The car jerked so hard that the examiner nearly fell off her seat.

Daria: Oh, that’s bad.

Oleg: Yeah, I know. I failed to stop at a traffic light and changed lanes in the intersection without signaling.

Daria: Yikes.

Oleg: The examiner told me to back off because I was tailgating the car in front of me. She also pointed out the speed limit because I had been speeding.

Daria: It couldn’t have gone much worse, could it?

Oleg: Oh yes, it could have and it did. When she warned me about my speed, I got so flustered that I slammed on the brakes and nearly caused an accident.

Daria: What did she say when that happened?

Oleg: She cried uncle and told me to take her back to the office as fast as humanly possible!

[end of dialogue]

If you’re interested in accelerating your English, try listening to more of our wonderful dialogues written by our wonderful scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thanks for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.

Glossary

to fail – to not pass; to not obtain a satisfactory score on an exam or assignment

* If Ahmed doesn’t start studying more, he is going to fail his physics class.

driving test – an exam in which one’s ability to drive is evaluated; a test that one must pass in order to receive a driver’s license (official permission to drive a car)

* Chungyul can’t wait to turn 16, take his driving test, and be able to drive.

to accelerate – to increase in speed, especially by pushing the gas pedal with one’s foot while driving a car

* Wendy carefully accelerated while going onto the freeway to make sure she was traveling at the same speed as the other cars.

to grind (one’s) gears – to cause the car to make a loud noise when one shifts poorly in a car with a manual transmission

* When Young was learning to drive a car with a manual transmission, he was grinding his gears all the time, but now he has learned how to do it almost perfectly.

to race the engine – to put a car in neutral and then step on the gas pedal to make the engine run very fast without moving the car forward

* Last night, we could hear teenagers racing their engines in the empty parking lot across the street.

to jerk – to move suddenly, abruptly, and unexpectedly in one direction

* Frightened by a bee, Jenna jerked her hand away and accidentally knocked over a glass of lemonade.

traffic light – traffic signal; the group of three lights (red, yellow, and green) that control the movement of cars where two or more streets cross each other

* When that traffic light turns yellow, we know that it will turn green soon.

to change lanes – to move from one lane to another; to move from one line of cars into another line of cars moving in the same direction, often to pass

* Always look in your mirrors before changing lanes.

intersection – the place where two or more streets cross each other

* They’re going to build a new apartment building at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and 23rd Street.

to signal – to use one’s turn signal; to indicate with a flashing light which way one’s car will turn

* The law requires signaling at least 100 feet before a turn.

to back off – to stop following someone or something so closely; to increase the amount of space between oneself and another person or object

* Why are you following that motorcycle so closely? Back off and give him some room for safety.

to tailgate – to follow another car very closely; to drive immediately behind another car, not leaving enough distance between the cars for safety

* Wow, look how that car is tailgating that van! If the van stops suddenly, the car is going to crash into it.

speed limit – the maximum speed allowed by law in one part of a road; the fastest speed that cars are allowed to drive

* In residential areas with lots of children, the speed limit is 25 miles per hour, but unfortunately cars often drive much faster than that, creating dangerous situations.

to speed – to drive too quickly; to drive faster than is allowed by law

* The police officer gave Hannah a ticket for speeding on the highway.

flustered – feeling confused, worried, anxious, embarrassed, and out of control, usually because one is in a very difficult, challenging, stressful, and unfamiliar situation

* The student became very flustered when the professor asked her a question and she didn’t know the answer.

to slam on the brakes – to push the brake pedal very quickly and forcefully to make a car stop suddenly

* The car in front of us slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a child who had run into the street.

to cry uncle – to end a game or activity suddenly, usually to allow the other person to win

* The two boys enjoy wrestling each other until one of them cries uncle, and then they stop.

as fast as humanly possible – very quickly; as quickly as possible

* We need to develop this new product as fast as humanly possible, before our competitors do.

Comprehension Questions

1. What caused the examiner to nearly fall off her seat?
a) The car stopped suddenly.
b) The car moved suddenly.
c) The car drove over bumps.
2. Why did the examiner tell Oleg to back off?
a) Because he was going the wrong way.
b) Because has going to fail the exam.
c) Because he was driving too closely behind another car.

Answers at bottom.

What Else Does It Mean?

to change lanes

The phrase “to change lanes,” in this podcast, means to move from one lane to another, often to pass: “That truck is going too slowly. Change lanes so you can pass him.” The phrase “to change sides” means to begins supporting another party, group, or idea: “With the right convincing argument, I think we could get her to change sides.” The phrase “to change (one’s) mind” means to make a difference decision or change one’s opinion: “I wasn’t going to donate, but that speaker’s story changed my mind.” The phrase “to change a bed” mean to remove the dirty sheets and put on clean ones: “Please change the bed before our guests arrive.” Finally, the phrase “to change hands” means to begin to belong to someone else, usually through a sale: “This property has changed hands only twice in the past 100 years.”

to cry uncle

In this podcast, the phrase “to cry uncle” means to end a game or activity suddenly, usually to allow the other person to win: “When they were children, they would tickle each other until one of them cried uncle.” The phrase “to cry foul” means to object or protest when one thinks something isn’t fair: “When the vacation policy was changed unexpectedly, some of the managers cried foul.” The phrase “to cry wolf” means to ask for help when one doesn’t really need it, making those people less likely to help when one really needs help: “They boys in the pool shouted, ‘Help!,’ but they were really just crying wolf.” Finally, the phrase “to cry into (one’s) beer” means to feel sorry for oneself: “Crying into your beer won’t help anything. You just need to start over.”

Culture Note

A Car’s Title

The “certificate of title,” also known as a “vehicle title” or a “car title” is a document that officially identifies who is the owner of a car. The car titles is normally “issued” (given; produced and provided) by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in each state.

The car’s title contains identifying information for the car, such as its “make” (the name of the manufacturer, such as Ford), “model” (the name of the style of car, such as Mustang), the “year” (the year when the car was made), the “VIN” (vehicle identification number; a number that identifies a single car), and the “license plate number” (the numbers and letters shown on the rectangular metal plates at the front and back of a car). The title also has the name and “contact information” (for example, address, telephone, and/or email address) of the owner as well as information about the “lienholder” (the person or entity who has loaned money for the purchase of a car) if there is an “outstanding loan” (a loan that has not been paid back completely yet).

When a car is sold, the title has to be “transferred” (given from one person to another) to the new owner. This requires that the old owners and the new owner sign the title and then the new owner obtains a new title at the DMV.

When a car is “totaled” (completely destroyed) in an accident and a “insurance company” (a company that covers the cost of accidents) pays a “claim” (money paid the owner) on it as a “total loss” (a car that will be replaced, not repaired), a “salvage title” is issued. People can still buy the car, but the salvage title is a “warning” (a statement that something bad might happen) that the car has been badly damaged.

Comprehension Answers

1 - b

2 - c