One morning I got into three different taxis and announced, "Well, it's my first day back in New York in seven years. I've been in prison." Not a single driver replied, so I tried again. "Yeah, I shot a man in Reno." I explained, hoping the driver would ask me why, but nobody asked. The only response came from a Ghanaian driver, "Reno? That is in Nevada?"
Taxi drivers were uniformly sympathetic when I said I'd just been fired. "This is America," a Haitian driver said. "One door is closed. Another is open." He argued against my plan to burn down my boss's house. A Pakistani driver even turned down a chance to profit from my loss of hope; he refused to take me to the middle of the George Washington Bridge--a $20 trip. "Why you want to go there? Go home and relax. Don't worry. Take a new job."
One very hot weekday in July, while wearing a red ski mask and holding a stuffed pillowcase with the word"BANK" on it, I tried calling a taxi five times outside different banks. The driver picked me up every tie. My ride with a Haitian driver was typical of the superb assistance I received.
"Let's go across the park." I said. "I just robbed the bank there. I got $25,000."
"$25,0007" he asked.
"Yeah, you think it was wrong to take it?"
"No, man. I work 8 hours and I don't make almost $70. If I can do that, I do it too."
As we approached 86th and Lexington, I pointed to the Chemical Bank.
"Hey, there's another bank," I said, "Could you wait here a minute while I go inside?"
"No, I can't wait. Pay me now." His reluctance may have had something to do with money--taxi drivers thinkthe rate for waiting time is too low--but I think he wanted me to learn that even a bank robber can't expect unconditional support.
練習(xí)題:
Choose correct answers to the question:
1. From the Ghanaian driver's response, we can infer that_____
A .he was indifferent to the killing
B. he was afraid of the author
C. he looked clown upon the author
D. he thought the author was crazy
2. Why did the Pakistani driver refuse to take the author to the middle of the George Washington Bridge?
A. Because he was able to help the author to find a new job.
B. Because he wanted to go home and relax.
C. Because it was far away from his home.
D. Because he thought that the author would commit suicide.
3. What is the author's interpretation of the driver's reluctance "to wait outside the Chemical Bank"?
A. The driver thought that the rate for waiting time was too low.
B. The driver thought it wrong to support a taxi rider unconditionally.
C. The driver was frightened and wanted to leave him as soon as possible.
D. The driver did not want to help a suspect to escape from a bank robbery.
4. Which of the following statements is true about New York taxi drivers?
A. They are ready to help you do whatever you want to.
B. They refuse to pick up those who would kill themselves.
C. They are sympathetic with those who are out of work.
D. They work only for money.
5. The passage mainly discusses _______.
A. how to please taxi riders
B. how to deal with taxi riders
C. the attitudes of taxi drivers towards riders in personal trouble
D. the attitudes of taxi drivers towards troublesome taxi riders
1.[A] 推理判斷題。從第2段最后一句的only response可以看出這個(gè)司機(jī)只問(wèn)了一個(gè)與殺人這件事無(wú)關(guān)的問(wèn)題,由此可見,司機(jī)對(duì)此事毫不關(guān)心,態(tài)度冷淡。
2.[D] 推理判斷題。本題的關(guān)鍵在于了解在美國(guó),髙聳的大橋通常是人們自殺的場(chǎng)所。根據(jù)這個(gè)背景知識(shí),以及第3段中司機(jī)說(shuō)的relax和Don’t worry可推斷出司機(jī)以為作者要到華盛頓橋去自殺。
3.[B] 事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。本題考查對(duì)復(fù)雜句的理解。答案可以在文章的最后一句話中找到,破折號(hào)后面but引出的轉(zhuǎn)折句才是作者對(duì)司機(jī)不愿等人的理解。A是一般出租車司機(jī)的想法,由may可知作者并不確定那個(gè)司機(jī)是否有此考慮,A不對(duì);C和D都無(wú)原文依據(jù)。
4.[C] 推理判斷題。答案可從第3段第1句話中找到,C是該句的同義替換。A中的do whatever you want to過(guò)于絕對(duì);B不符合邏輯,因?yàn)樗緳C(jī)不可能先問(wèn)乘客是否要自殺才決定要不要載這個(gè)乘客;巴基斯坦司機(jī)的例子表明司機(jī)不都是只為了錢,因此D不正確。
5.[C] 主旨大意題。文章開篇第1句話就是整篇文章的主題句,接下來(lái)的各段內(nèi)容都是圍繞此主題展開的,C與之意思相符,故選C。本題最具干擾性的是D,事實(shí)上,該選項(xiàng)中的troublesome意為“煩人的”,而不是"陷人麻煩的”,因此不能用該詞形容文中的乘客,故排除D。
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