Taxi Riding
In a moment of personal crisis, how much help can you expect from a New York taxi driver? I began studying this question after watching the Taxicab Confessions, a series of documentaries in which hidden cameras record the secrets of unsuspecting taxi riders. I found the results varied.
One morning I got into three different taxis and announced: Well, its my first day back in New York in seven years. Ive 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, so I could say casually, Just to watch him die. But nobody asked. The only response came from a Ghanaian driver: Reno? That is in Nevada?
Taxi drivers were uniformly sympathetic when I said Id 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 bosss house: If you do something silly and they put you away, you cannot look for another job. 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. Dont worry. Take a new job.
One very hot weekday in July, while wearing a red ski mask and holding a stuffed pillowcase with the work BANK on it, I tried hailing a taxi five times outside different banks. The driver picked me up every time. My ride with Guy-Caaude Thevenain, a Haitian driver, was typical of the superb assistance I received.
Is anyone following us?
No, said the driver, looking in his rearview mirror at traffic and me.
Lets go across the park, I said. I just robbed the bank there. I got $25,000.
$25,000? he asked.
Yeah, you think it was wrong to take it?
No, man, I work 8 hours and I dont 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, theres another bank, I said, could you wait here a minute while I go inside?
No, I cant wait. Pay me now. His reluctance may have had something to do with money -taxi drivers think the rate for waiting time is too low -but I think he wanted me to learn that even a bank robber cant expect unconditional support.
1. From the Ghanaian drivers response, we can infer that
A) he was indifferent to the killing.
B) he was afraid of the author.
C) he looked down 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 didnt want to help the author get over his career crisis.
B) Because he wanted to go home and relax.
C) Because it was far away from his home.
D) Because he suspected that the author was going to commit suicide.
3. What is authors interpretation of the drivers 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 wanted to go home and relax.
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. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A) How to make taxi riders comfortable.
B) How to deal with taxi riders.
C) The attitudes of taxi drivers towards the taxi riders having personal crises.
D) The attitudes of taxi drivers towards violent criminals.
答案: ADBCC
美国习惯用语-第183讲:Under the gun
美国习惯用语-第190讲:at the drop of a&nb
美国习惯用语-第192讲:Hat in hand
美国习惯用语-第155讲:Tight-lipped/Tight with someo
美国习惯用语-第178讲:jump the gun
美国习惯用语-第161讲:Up to one´s neck
美国习惯用语-第169讲:Nothing special
美国习惯用语-第176讲:To make one´s blood&
美国习惯用语-第158讲:To have a feeling i
美国习惯用语-第156讲:LOOSE LIPS/AT LOOSE ENDS
美国习惯用语-第194讲Fat cat
美国习惯用语-第138讲:no skin off my nose
美国习惯用语-第159讲:Lick/Lickety split
美国习惯用语-第145讲:set of wheels/free-wheeler
美国习惯用语-第165讲:Over a barrel/ Over 
美国习惯用语-第180讲:Brain drain
美国习惯用语-第141讲:all skin and bones
美国习惯用语-第187讲:make tracks
美国习惯用语-第140讲:spinning one´s wheel
美国习惯用语-第162讲:To get it in the&nb
美国习惯用语-第188讲:stand someone up
美国习惯用语-第166讲:Out of the woods/Out&nbs
美国习惯用语-第152讲:street smarts/two-way street
美国习惯用语-第164讲:Over one´s head/Over 
美国习惯用语-第193讲:Fat farm
美国习惯用语-第173讲:to keep one´s cool
美国习惯用语-第157讲:OUT OF ONE´S SKULL/S
美国习惯用语-第143讲:one of a kind/top-notch
美国习惯用语-第144讲:to crash the gate/to&nbs
美国习惯用语-第163讲:Cold shoulder/Hot air
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |