A young woman was driving through the country far away from the town. It was dark and raining. Suddenly she saw an old woman by the side of the road, holding her hand out as if   she wanted a lift. "I can't leave her out in this weather," the woman said to herself, so she stopped the car and opened the door. "Do you want a lift?" she asked. The old woman nodded   and climbed into the car. After a while, she said to the old woman, "Have you been waiting for a long time?" The old woman moved her head from side to side. "Strange," thought the young woman. She tried again. "Bad weather for the time of year," she said. The old woman nodded. No matter what the young woman said, the hitchhiker   gave no answer except for a nod of the head. Then the young woman noticed the hitchhiker's hands, which were large and hairy. Suddenly she realized the hitchhiker was in fact a man! She stopped the car. "There is something wrong with the car," she said, "Would you mind getting off and helping me?" The hitchhiker nodded and opened the door. As soon as the hitchhiker was out of the car, the frightened young woman raced off. When she got to the next village she stopped her car. She noticed that the hitchhiker had left his handbag behind. She picked it up and opened it. To her surprise, there was a gun   inside the bag. The word "lift" in the passage means   _  .
an act of raising something a ride in the car an offer of cleaning cars something run by electricity