Using English at Work：04 Arriving at Work(4)

Sometimes it is very difficult to find a parking spot in the city and people have to drive for a long time until you find one.

But I don't have that problem, so I pull in, or drive into the parking spot.

I make sure that my parking permit is showing in the windshield.

A "parking permit" is a piece of paper or plastic that gives a person permission to park his or her car in a specific area.

A "permit" allows you to do something; the verb is "to permit."

Notice when we use it as a noun¹, the accent is on the first syllable²: "permit," when we use it as a verb, the accent is on the second syllable: "permit."

So, this is a parking permit that permits me to park in a certain area.

Many universities have one color of parking permit for professors and another color for students.

This way, the universities can let the professors park closer to the buildings and the students have to park farther³ away.

I hated this when I was a student, but of course I loved it when I worked as a professor.

I said that my parking permit is showing in the windshield, this means you can see it in or through the windshield.

A "windshield" is a large glass window in the front of a car that a driver looks though to see where he or she is going.

My parking permit has to be seen through the windshield so that if a guard walks by, he or she will know that I have permission to park my car there.

If I don't have permission, my car may be towed⁴ (towed).

If your car is "towed," the company brings a truck and they take it away, and then you have to pay extra money to get it back, so you don't want to do that.

Next I take my briefcase⁵ out of the back seat, the second row of seats in the car is called the "back seat."

A "briefcase" is a small container or bag that people use to carry their work papers in.

Then I lock up the car.

1 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

2 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

3 farther   

adj.更远的，进一步的；adv.更远的，此外；far的比较级

参考例句：

• I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
• The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。

4 towed   

v.拖，拉，拽( tow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Our car was towed away by the police. 我们的汽车被警察拖走了。
• The tugboat towed the damaged ship into port. 拖船把坏了的船拖进港口。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 briefcase   

n.手提箱，公事皮包

参考例句：

• He packed a briefcase with what might be required.他把所有可能需要的东西都装进公文包。
• He requested the old man to look after the briefcase.他请求那位老人照看这个公事包。