地道英语

Take the wheel 把持方向，担起责任

内容简介

表达 “take the wheel” 的字面意思是 “掌握方向盘，开车”。但在日常英语交流中，“take the wheel” 还可以被用来比喻 “负起责任，做主”。听节目中主持人 Georgie 和菲菲介绍这个表达在生活和工作中的用法。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Feifei
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。在每期节目中，我们都会介绍一个英语母语人士或讲英语流利的人会用到的表达。I'm Feifei.

Georgie
And I'm Georgie. Feifei, tell me. How are you, and what is the phrase we're learning in this programme?

Feifei
I'm well, thank you. The phrase we're learning is about taking control of a situation. But, first of all, can you take the wheel for the introduction?

Georgie
Smooth introduction, Feifei, to the phrase we're looking at in this programme. And sure, I'll take the wheel, and you can rest for a few seconds. We're learning 'take the wheel', which means take control of a situation. It comes from the literal sense, when you take control of the steering wheel of a car, or 'wheel' for short. So, imagine we're in a car – I'm driving, you're the passenger, and there's an emergency. I might say to you, "quick – take the wheel!" and I'm asking you to put your hands on the steering wheel, to take control of the car.

Feifei
Well, that sounds a little stressful! But the meaning we're looking at is more metaphorical, isn't it? So, for example, my family is talking about going on holiday together, but no one is actually organising it. So, I've decided to take the wheel to organise the holiday. 

Georgie
That's a great example. Let's hear some more examples of 'take the wheel' in use. 

Examples
When I worked as a teacher, I often had to cover classes of teachers that were suddenly sick. I just had to take the wheel and teach without being able to prepare anything in advance. 

There's this massive project at work. I just don't have any time I can spend on it. Can I ask you to take the wheel on this one?         

I think I'll take the wheel on the decorations for the party, but could you organise the food?

Feifei
So, this phrase is quite flexible and can be used like any normal verb, so I can use it in the past, for example, "I took the wheel", as a request "Can you take the wheel?" or "He's always taking the wheel", and lots more. Is there anything else we can say about this phrase, Georgie? 

Georgie
Well, it's interesting, actually, that a lot of expressions we use to talk about control and power are related to driving, like this one, or even riding horses. Similar to 'take the wheel', we have 'take the reins' – which are those things like straps attached to a horse's mouth that we use to control them when riding them. 

Feifei
Oh yes, and if someone is in full control of a situation, we can say that they're in the driving seat. You're right, Georgie. I hadn't thought about that. 

Right, so, let's recap.“Take the wheel” 的字面意思是 “掌握方向盘，开车”，除了它原本的意思外，在交流中，我们还可以用 “take the wheel” 来比喻 “把持方向，负起责任，做主”。就像在节目一开始，我对 Georgie 说 “Can you take the wheel for the introduction?”，意思就是 “你来负责介绍这期节目中要学的表达，好吗？”

Georgie
Now that we've taught you this expression, it's your turn to take the wheel of your English learning and practise using it! 

Feifei
是的，希望大家多多练习使用 “take the wheel”。We'll be back next time with another useful English phrase. See you then.

Georgie
Bye!