【明報專訊】Pat wears her headphones all the time, even when she is about to cross a road. Furthermore, she does not use pedestrian crossing facilities. See what danger she puts herself and others in!
“ Bill: Even though you have supernatural powers, you have to be careful about road safety! You may have got knocked down by a car! ”
“ Pat: OK! There is a zebra crossing. Let's cross the road there. ”
“ Pat: Oh! It's raining. Is there any covered place? ”
“ Bill: There is a sheltered footbridge. We can use that instead! ”
■English highway: -phrasal verbs
knock down, knock out
To knock a person down means to hit him and make him fall to the ground. To knock a person out means to make him unconscious or to hit him so that he cannot get up within a limited time.
e.g. My neighbour's cat is very naughty. It always knocks my potted plants down.
e.g. The boxing champion hit his opponent so hard that he knocked him out.
■Quiz
Fill in the following blanks with the correct forms of "knock out" or "knock down".
(answers on next text)
1. The government is redeveloping the area. It is going to ______________ several buildings.
2. Kelly once hit her head on the wall and _______ herself ______.
3. The Berlin Wall had been ___________ before West Germany and East Germany were reunified.
■Glossary
pedestrian (n) 行人
zebra crossing (n) 斑馬線
footbridge (n) 行人天橋
unconscious (adj) 不省人事的