Hello 大家好，这周的 Weekend English Club 上线啦！希望大家周末愉快呀！

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 8 of Weekend English Club, where I tell short stories to help you train your English.

Last week when I talked about Audi I also mentioned cars driving on the left side of the road. Driving on the left side is not that common so I decided to talk a little bit about why some countries drive on the left while most countries drive on the right.

Actually, there are different theories about why some countries drive on the left. Some people say it is because the ancient Romans used to drive on the left, and European countries followed their example. Others say it is because in medieval times, knights used to ride their horses on the left side of the road so they could greet people with their right hand. At least we know for sure that for a long time in history many places did not have strict rules about driving on the left or right side of the road, at least until modern cars were invented.  We do know that the United Kingdom decided to drive on the left side, and they spread this rule to the many countries they conquered around the world.

A lot of countries used to drive on the left but switched to driving on the right later. For example, Canada changed the rules because the United States drives on the right, and they wanted to drive on the same side as the United States. This makes things easier when you have to drive across the border. In China, some areas used to drive on the left as well, but in 1946 the government decided that everyone should drive on the right. Only in Hong Kong and Macau do people still drive on the left because of their history with Portugal and the United Kingdom.

Many other countries like India, Australia, Pakistan and Japan still drive on the left side, so this can be confusing for tourists who are not used to it, but I think it is interesting to see the different rules between countries around the world.

• Actually：实际上，事实上
• Theory：理论
• Ancient：古老的
• Romans：罗马人
• Medieval times：中世纪
• Knight：骑士
• Greet：打招呼；致意
• At least：至少
• Invented：发明；创造（过去式）
• Spread： 传播；散布
• Conquer：征服；占领
• Switch：转变；改变
• Portugal：葡萄牙
• Pakistan：巴基斯坦
• Confusing：令人迷惑的

主播：Daniel

校对：nan_nan