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Exercise

1. If you hit the road, what do you do?

a) start a very long car journey

b) have a traffic accident

c) leave somewhere to go somewhere else

2. Who recorded the famous song, 'Hit The Road Jack'?

3. Why does Nina have to hit the road herself now?

Read

You’re listening to British Council’s English Online and I’m Nina. Today on Language Snacks we take a look at the expression hit the road. Let’s listen to the dialogue.

A: Thanks for a great party! We had a really nice time.

B: Oh you don't have to leave already, do you? It's only 11.

A: Sorry, I have to get up really early tomorrow so I should hit the road soon.

B: How about just one more quick drink?

A: Oh okay, but just a quick one!

Very simply, this expression means leave somewhere to go somewhere else. It doesn't matter if you're walking, driving, taking the train or any other kind of transport, you can always use this phrase. This idiom is probably about 140 years old, but it became even more widely-known after singer Ray Charles released the song 'Hit The Road Jack' in 1961.

Well, I'm meeting some friends in town soon, so I'd better hit the road myself now!

And that’s it for now – join us again for some more Language Snacks.

You’ve been listening to English Online – the podcast for English learners in China.

Answers

1. c

2. Ray Charles

3. to meet some friends in town

Tip

Ray Charles

雷·查爾斯，美國(guó)靈魂音樂家、鋼琴演奏家，他開創(chuàng)了節(jié)奏布魯斯音樂。他是第一批被列入搖滾名人堂的人物之一，《滾石雜志》亦把他列為“100個(gè)最偉大的藝人”中的第10位。法蘭克·辛納屈稱他為“音樂界唯一的天才”。2004雷·查爾斯去世后，按照其生平拍攝記影片《靈魂歌王》。

(以上Tip小貼士?jī)?nèi)容為網(wǎng)絡(luò)百科提供的參考版本，僅供學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。）