HSK 4Lesson 19
Roads and traffic are part of every trip. You will get stuck at a crossroads with broken lights, argue about speed on the way to a birthday dinner, hear how a teacher's route to school has changed, and ask a stranger the way past a closed path.
You will learn to talk about road traffic: describe a jam, follow a traffic officer, talk about speed and distance, ask the way, and say where something starts or how it changes over time.
Part 1 · 17 new words
Contains 5 words
road; highway
road; roads
street
crossroads
road; path
Contains 8 words
traffic; transport
traffic police officer
Contains 2 words
to pass by
to point at; to point to
Contains 2 words
from; since
along with; as
Part 2 · 9 phrases
北京的交通很方便，有地铁，也有公交车。
Transportation in Beijing is very convenient, with both a subway and buses.
早上上班的时候最容易堵车，所以我坐地铁。
Traffic jams are most likely when people head to work in the morning, so I take the subway.
过马路的时候，要看十字路口的红绿灯。
When you cross the road, watch the traffic light at the crossroads.
这条公路从北京到西安，一共一千多公里。
This highway runs from Beijing to Xi'an, more than a thousand kilometers in all.
车速太快不安全，跑步的速度太快也会很累。
Driving at too high a speed isn't safe, and running too fast makes you tired too.
我每天去学校都路过一家书店。
Part 3 · 4 conversations
Li Wen is driving Liu Ming to school when they get stuck at a crossroads with broken traffic lights, and a traffic officer sends the cars another way.
李文Li Wen
今天的堵车怎么这么厉害？半天都不动。
Why is the jam so bad today? We haven't moved for ages.
刘明Liu Ming
前面是十字路口，红绿灯坏了。
There's a crossroads ahead and the traffic lights are broken.
Part 4 · 1 point
介词：引出时间、处所 自 / 当 / 由 / 随着 / 等
Use 自zì + time or place for from, mostly in notices and rules, and 随着suízhe + a change to say that something else changes along with it.
Say when a rule starts
Use 自zì + time + 起qǐ, then the rule.
to be jammed (of traffic)
driving speed
speed
kilometer
fast; high-speed
to be open; to go through
I pass a bookstore every day on my way to school.
这条路现在通了，车可以过去了。
This road is open now, and cars can get through.
随着天气越来越冷，街上的人也越来越少了。
As the weather gets colder, fewer and fewer people are on the street.
下雪以后，学校门口的道路不好走，要慢点儿。
After the snow, the road by the school gate is hard to walk on, so go slowly.
这样啊。那里有交警吗？
I see. Is there a traffic officer there?
刘明Liu Ming
有，你看，他用手指着左边的街道，让车都往那边走。
Yes, look, he's pointing at the street on the left and sending all the cars that way.
李文Li Wen
可是我们要往前开。那条街道通吗？我听说这几天那边不通。
But we need to go straight. Is that street open? I heard it has been closed these last few days.
刘明Liu Ming
我刚看了手机，那条道昨天就通了，车也不多，从那儿也能到学校。
I just checked my phone. That road opened again yesterday, there aren't many cars, and we can get to school that way too.
李文Li Wen
好，那就听交警的，往左边开。
Okay, then we'll do what the officer says and turn left.
Bai Jiayue's uncle is driving her to her grandmother's birthday dinner; she is afraid they will be late and wants him to drive faster.
白家月Bai Jiayue
叔叔，我们开得太慢了吧？奶奶的生日饭六点就开始了。
Uncle, aren't we going too slowly? Grandma's birthday dinner starts at six.
叔叔Uncle
我们开得不慢，现在车速是八十，一小时八十公里。
We're not going slowly. We're doing eighty now, eighty kilometers an hour.
白家月Bai Jiayue
可是别的车都比我们快。
But all the other cars are faster than us.
叔叔Uncle
这条公路最快只能开八十，别人开得快是不对的。前面上了快速路，速度才能快一点儿。
Eighty is the limit on this road; the others are wrong to go faster. Once we get on the expressway up ahead, we can speed up a bit.
白家月Bai Jiayue
离奶奶家还有多远？
How far is it to Grandma's?
叔叔Uncle
还有三十公里。上了快速路，二十分钟就到了，六点以前能到，放心吧。
Thirty more kilometers. Once we're on the expressway it's twenty minutes, so we'll be there before six. Don't worry.
Wang Yixue asks Teacher Wang about her long trip to school and learns how the roads in that part of the city have changed.
王一雪Wang Yixue
王老师，听说您家离学校很远，您每天怎么来？
Teacher Wang, I hear you live far from school. How do you get here every day?
王老师Teacher Wang
从我家到学校一共十二公里。我先坐地铁，再走十分钟。
From my home to school is twelve kilometers. I take the subway and then walk for ten minutes.
王一雪Wang Yixue
走路的时候路过哪些地方？
What do you pass on the walk?
王老师Teacher Wang
路过一个公园，还要过一条新的大马路。
I pass a park, and I also have to cross a big new road.
王一雪Wang Yixue
以前那里没有大马路吗？
Wasn't there a big road there before?
王老师Teacher Wang
以前只有一条小道。随着城市变大，这边的道路越来越多，也越来越好走了。
There was only a narrow path. As the city has grown, there are more and more roads around here, and they're easier and easier to get along.
王一雪Wang Yixue
现在路好走了，您路上一共要多长时间？
Now that the roads are better, how long does the whole trip take you?
王老师Teacher Wang
四十多分钟。可是明年公园旁边会有一个地铁站，交通就更方便了，我也不用走路了。
Just over forty minutes. But next year there'll be a subway station next to the park, so getting here will be even easier and I won't have to walk.
Anne asks a passer-by the way to the subway station and finds out that the shortcut her friend told her about is closed.
安妮Anne
请问，去地铁站怎么走？
Excuse me, how do I get to the subway station?
路人Passer-by
你先在这条街上一直往前走，到前面的十字路口往右走，再走一百米就到了。
Go straight along this street first, turn right at the crossroads ahead, and it's another hundred meters.
安妮Anne
我朋友说，走公园旁边那条小道更近。
My friend said the path next to the park is shorter.
路人Passer-by
以前是更近，可是现在那条道不通了。你看那边的通知：“自十月十日起，公园小道不通。”
It used to be shorter, but that path is closed now. Look at the notice over there: "From October 10, the park path is closed."
安妮Anne
那我还是走大马路吧。是那个有红绿灯的路口吗？
Then I'd better take the main road. Is it the junction with the traffic lights?
路人Passer-by
对，是我指着的那个路口。过马路的时候小心车。
Yes, the one I'm pointing at. Watch out for cars when you cross.
自十月十日起，公园小道不通zì Shíyuè shí rì qǐ, gōngyuán xiǎodào bù tōng is notice language; in speech you would say 从十月十日开始cóng Shíyuè shí rì kāishǐ.
Say as things change
Use 随着suízhe + a change, then what changes with it.
In 随着城市变大，道路越来越多suízhe chéngshì biàn dà, dàolù yuè lái yuè duō, the roads change together with the city.
In sentences
A rule starts
自下个月一号起，这条街道晚上不能开车。
From the first of next month, cars may not use this street at night.
Notice language with 自zì … 起qǐ.
From a time
自今天晚上八点起，北京到上海的公路不通。
From eight o'clock tonight, the road from Beijing to Shanghai is closed.
An exact time after 自zì; 北京到上海Běijīng dào Shànghǎi names the road. In speech: 从今天晚上八点开始cóng jīntiān wǎnshang bā diǎn kāishǐ.
Along with a change
随着车越来越多，堵车也越来越厉害了。
As there are more and more cars, the jams keep getting worse.
随着suízhe introduces the change.
Along with age
随着年龄越来越大，爷爷走路的速度慢多了。
As Grandpa gets older, he walks much more slowly.
The change can be a person getting older; the second clause shows the result.
A：这条路怎么今天没有车？ B：自昨天起，这里就不能开车了。
A: Why are there no cars on this road today? B: Since yesterday, cars haven't been allowed here.
白家月的叔叔说，随着车越来越多，他每天早上都要早走半个小时。
Bai Jiayue's uncle says that as there are more and more cars, he has to leave half an hour earlier every morning.
自zì marks a starting point in time or place. It is formal and appears mostly in notices, rules and signs, often as 自zì + time + 起qǐ, starting from: 自十月十日起zì Shíyuè shí rì qǐ, from October 10. It can also pair with 到dào: 自北京到上海zì Běijīng dào Shànghǎi. In everyday speech people use 从cóng instead: 从我家到学校cóng wǒ jiā dào xuéxiào. 随着suízhe introduces a change, and the next clause says what changes along with it: 随着城市变大，道路越来越多suízhe chéngshì biàn dà, dàolù yuè lái yuè duō. The part after 随着suízhe must be a change or a process, such as 变大biàn dà or 时间过去shíjiān guòqu, not a fixed fact, and the second clause usually shows a result that changes too, often with 也yě, 越来越yuè lái yuè or 了le. A common mistake is to use 随着suízhe for a single cause: say 因为下雨，路上堵车yīnwèi xià yǔ, lùshang dǔchē, not 随着下雨suízhe xià yǔ.
