Question

【題目】 You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator (電梯) ride. But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, US, has made it his business to examine this overlooked form of public transport. It is known as the “Elevator Guy”.

“The lift becomes this interesting social space where etiquette (禮儀) is sort of odd (奇怪的).” Gray told BBC. “They are socially very interesting but often very awkward (令人窘迫的) places.”

We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, liftusers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements.

He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift, you can do whatever you want--it’s your own little box. If there are two of you, you go into different comers, standing diagonally (對(duì)角線地) across from each other to create distance. When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every comer. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.

New entrants (新進(jìn)入者) to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for more people the rule is simple -- look down, or look at your phone.

Why are we so awkward in lifts?

“You don’t have enough space,” Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical (臨床的) psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, told BBC. “Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm’s length of distance between us. And that’s not possible in most elevators.”

In such a small enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that can’t be construed (理解) as threatening or odd. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact,” she said.

【1】The main purpose of the article is to ________.

A.remind us to enjoy ourselves in the elevator

B.tell us some unwritten rules of elevator etiquette

C.share an interesting but awkward elevator ride

D.analyze (分析) what makes people feel awkward in an elevator

【2】Which of the following describes how people usually stand when there are at least two persons in an elevator?

A.B.C.D.

【3】The underlined phrase “size up” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to ________.

A.judgeB.ignoreC.put up withD.make the best of

【4】According to the article, people feel awkward in lifts because of ________.

A.someone’s odd behaviorsB.the lack of space

C.their unfamiliarity with one anotherD.their eye contact with one another

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】C

【3】A

【4】B

【解析】

我們?nèi)粘Ｊ褂秒娞輹r(shí)不會(huì)過(guò)多思考電梯這工具，而Lee gray研究出這種公共工具被忽視的形式，介紹了潛在的電梯禮儀。

【1】主旨題。結(jié)合第一段前兩句You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator (電梯) ride. But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, US, has made it his business to examine this overlooked form of public transport.可知，我們?nèi)粘Ｊ褂秒娞輹r(shí)不會(huì)過(guò)多思考電梯這個(gè)工具，而Lee gray研究出這種公共工具被忽視的形式，文章以此展開(kāi)，介紹了潛在的電梯禮儀。故正確答案為B。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。結(jié)合第四段倒數(shù)第二句And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every comer.可知，當(dāng)有四個(gè)人在電梯中時(shí)，他們所站的位置會(huì)形成一個(gè)正方形，所以C項(xiàng)符合文意。故選C。

【3】詞義猜測(cè)題。根據(jù)上面分析的電梯里人們的行為，結(jié)合句中的when the doors slide open and then act decisively.可知，該詞的意思是：要進(jìn)入電梯的人通常會(huì)判斷電梯里的情況，然后決定自己的行為方向，故選A。

【4】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。結(jié)合倒數(shù)第二段You don’t have enough space可知在電梯時(shí)我們沒(méi)有足夠大的空間所以會(huì)感到局促不安。故正確答案為B。