成長

張曉敏

I fell in love with driving before I could even ride a bike. For my second birthday I received my first car. It was purple with a white trim and black wheels， and I would ride up and down the driveway， honking1） the horn and trying to get my big sister or parents to push me. Though I wasn't aware of it then， I had the most environmentally sound car ever invented， with leaves as fuel and my feet as its engine. I loved pretending I could drive， and was always waiting for that day when I could drive for real.

The summer of my sixteenth birthday .nally arrived， and after all the nervousness and excitement， I got my permit. I stared at the crisp2） white paper， and I couldn't wait to drive. It seemed like years between the time I passed my permit test and my dad took me for my first lesson. It was actually only four days， but they felt like a lifetime. After tons of begging and pleading， Dad brought me to an empty parking area that went uphill， then downhill with many sharp turns on both sides. All I could think about was how exciting it was going to be to drive myself to school instead of taking the bus or having someone pick me up.

When I sat in the driver's seat for the first time， though， I had mixed emotions： excitement mixed with a scared feeling. After five minutes of adjusting the seat （trying to get as close to the pedals as possible）， it was time to turn on my parents' white station wagon3）. I put one foot on the gas pedal and the other on the brake and my dad gave me a weird look.

"What are you doing？" he asked.

"Putting my foot on the brake，" I said in an authoritative4） voice. I had passed my permit test； I knew how to drive.

"Never use your left foot， switch between the brake and gas pedal with your right foot only，" he explained.

That's when I realized I actually had no clue what I was doing， but was too excited to care. Cautiously， I put the car into drive， and we began to crawl toward the first curve. Dad and I spent the afternoon going over the basics. For at least an hour I heard， "Good job，" "What are you doing？" and "If you were on the road， you would not only be on the wrong side， but you would have just hit a parked car." At that point whatever Dad said didn't really matter. I thought I had done well， and nobody was going to change my mind.

After all the time I had waited to drive， the moment had .nally come. I had driven， and I couldn't wait to do it again. For the next month I begged to drive almost every day. I drove in a variety of parking lots， and eventually on the road.endprint

Driving is an important step in my life. Not only does it show that I have become more responsible， it shows that I have grown up. In some ways I'm still that little girl trying to get my parents to push her， but now I'm starting to push myself.

我甚至還沒等學會騎自行車，就愛上了開車。兩歲生日時，我收到了我的第一輛汽車。它有著紫色帶白邊的車身，還有黑色的車輪，我會開著它在我家的車道上來回走，按喇叭，還設法讓姐姐或爸媽來推我前進。我的車是已發明的汽車里最環保的——樹葉做燃料，我的雙腳做引擎，雖然我當時并沒有意識到這一點。我那時喜歡假裝自己會開車，一直等待著自己可以真正開車的那一天。

過16歲生日的那個夏天終于到了，在經歷了所有緊張和興奮之后，我拿到了駕駛許可。我盯著那張干凈挺括的白紙，迫不及待地想要開車。從我通過駕駛許可考試到爸爸第一次帶著我練車，這中間好像過了好些年。實際上只隔了四天，感覺卻好像有一輩子那么長。經過了無數次的懇求后，爸爸帶我來到一個空曠的停車區，這里有上坡，有下坡，兩邊還有許多急彎。我當時滿腦子想的只有：以后可以自己開車去學校，而不用坐校車或讓別人接送，太讓人興奮了。

盡管如此，我第一次坐上駕駛座的時候，還是有一種很復雜的情緒：興奮中摻雜著一種恐懼的感覺。在花了五分鐘調整座椅后（我試圖盡可能地靠近腳踏），就該開動爸媽的白色旅行車了。我把一只腳放在油門上，另一只放在剎車上，然后爸爸用奇怪的眼神看了我一眼。

“你在干嗎？”他問。

“把腳放在剎車上啊。”我用一種權威的口氣回答。我之前通過了駕駛許可考試，我知道怎么開車。

“永遠不要用左腳，只用右腳在剎車和油門之間轉換。”他解釋道。

這時我才意識到我其實完全不知道自己在干什么，只是太興奮了，顧不上想。我小心翼翼地啟動了車子，我們開始向第一個彎道爬去。我和爸爸花了整整一下午復習基本的技巧。至少有一個小時，我聽到爸爸在說“開得不錯，”“你在干嗎？”“如果現在是在馬路上，你不光開錯了邊，還會撞到旁邊停著的車。”在那時，不管爸爸說什么其實都不重要。我覺得我開得挺好，沒人能改變我的想法。

在經過了那么長時間的等待之后，真正開車的時刻終于來到了。我之前開過，迫不及待地想再開車。在接下來的一個月里，我幾乎每天都央求讓我開車。在各種各樣的停車場都開過之后，我終于開車上路了。

開車是我人生中的重要一步。那不僅意味著我變得更可靠，也意味著我已經長大。在某些方面，我還是那個想要讓父母推著向前的小女孩，但是現在我開始推著自己前進了。

1. honk [h..k] vt. 鳴（車輛喇叭）

2. crisp [kr.sp] adj. 干凈挺括的（紙、布等）

3. station wagon： 旅行汽車

4. authoritative [...θ.r.t.t.v] adj. 有（或顯示）權威的endprint