276. Hitchhiking was prevalent in the Great Depression, and this is one area that can at least offer some creativity, although Mint absolutely does not recommend that you sell your car and get to work each day by holding up a thumb next to the freeway, nor should you become a hobohemian and hop trains to get around.

译文　虽然Mint绝不建议你卖掉自己的汽车，每天站在高速公路旁竖起大拇指搭便车上班，也不是让你成为一个跳上火车四处周游的流浪汉，但经济大萧条时期搭便车是很流行的方式，而且这方面至少可以提供一些创意。

点睛　本句是个并列复合句，主干是Hitchhiking was prevalent..., and this is one area...。其中，第一个that引导定语从句修饰area。although引导的是让步状语从句，该从句中，that引导you sell your car...和nor should you...两个并列的宾语从句。

prevalent意为“盛行的，普遍的”。如：

Nowadays violation of intellectual property rights are still prevalent among the country. 如今侵犯知识产权在该国依然非常普遍。

hop在句中意为“搭乘”，其本义为“跳跃，蹦”。如：

The fence is so high that I can't hop it. 这篱笆太高了，我没法跳过去。

考点归纳　hold up含义非常丰富，除了在句中表示“举起”之外，还有以下意思：

表示“支撑，承受住，支持”。如：

I didn't expect that I could hold up such a pain. 我没想到自己能忍受住这样的疼痛。

Everybody manages to hold up under the daily stress. 每个人都在想办法应对每天的生活压力。

表示“拦住，使停顿，耽搁”。如：

We had planned to have a picnic, but the heavy rain held us up. 我们原计划要去野餐，可是被大雨耽搁了。

A policeman held up my car to inspect my driver's license. 一名警察拦住我的车检查驾驶证。

表示“举出，提出”。如：

She always held up her oldest daughter as a model of hard work. 她过去总是举出自己的大女儿作为勤奋工作的榜样。

表示“（天）继续晴下去，放晴”。如：

I hope that the fine weather will hold up for some more days. 我希望晴天再持续几天。

英语六级阅读