In a moment of personal crisis, how much help can you expect from a New York taxi driver? I began studyingthis question and found the answers interesting.
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.
练习题：
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
参考答案
1.[A] 推理判断题。从第2段最后一句的only response可以看出这个司机只问了一个与杀人这件事无关的问题，由此可见，司机对此事毫不关心，态度冷淡。
2.[D] 推理判断题。本题的关键在于了解在美国，髙耸的大桥通常是人们自杀的场所。根据这个背景知识，以及第3段中司机说的relax和Don’t worry可推断出司机以为作者要到华盛顿桥去自杀。
3.[B] 事实细节题。本题考查对复杂句的理解。答案可以在文章的最后一句话中找到，破折号后面but引出的转折句才是作者对司机不愿等人的理解。A是一般出租车司机的想法，由may可知作者并不确定那个司机是否有此考虑,A不对;C和D都无原文依据。
4.[C] 推理判断题。答案可从第3段第1句话中找到,C是该句的同义替换。A中的do whatever you want to过于绝 对;B不符合逻辑，因为司机不可能先问乘客是否要自杀才决定要不要载这个乘客;巴基斯坦司机的例子表明司机不都是只为了钱，因此D不正确。
5.[C] 主旨大意题。文章开篇第1句话就是整篇文章的主题句，接下来的各段内容都是围绕此主题展开的，C与之意思相符，故选C。本题最 具干扰性的是D,事实上，该选项中的troublesome意为“烦人的”，而不是"陷人麻烦的”，因此不能用该词形容文中的乘客，故排除D。
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