Question

You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator ride. Many of us use a lift several times during the day without really thinking about it. But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, US, has made it his business to examine this overlooked form of public transport. He 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 the BBC. “They [elevators] are socially very interesting but often very awkward 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 told the BBC what he had observed.

   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 corners, 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 corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.

   New entrants to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most 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 psychologist at the  Free University of Berlin, told the 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 cannot 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 what makes people feel awkward in an elevator

2.According to Gray, when people enter an elevator, they usually _____.

A. turn around and greet one another

B. look around or examine their phone

C. make eye contact with those in the elevator

D. try to keep a distance from other people

3.Which of the following describes how people usually stand when there are at least two people in an elevator?

 

 

 

4.The underlined phrase “size up” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to _____.

A. judge        B. ignore      C. put up with     D. make the best of

5.According to the article, people feel awkward in lifts because of _____.

A. someone’s odd behaviors

B. the lack of space

C. their unfamiliarity with one another

D. their eye contact with one another

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.A

5.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文作者敘述了乘坐電梯的人的禮儀，由于電梯的空間小，人們進(jìn)去之后如果有兩個(gè)人就各自站一個(gè)角，如果有三個(gè)人人們往往就站成對(duì)角線，如果是四個(gè)人他們就站在四個(gè)角，五個(gè)人時(shí)那個(gè)人就站在中間，彼此之間都常常保持一定的距離，避免眼的接觸，有的人向下看或者玩弄手機(jī)。

1.作者意圖題。根據(jù)The lift becomes this interesting social space where etiquette (禮儀) is sort of odd (奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “They [elevators] are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.及短文的大意可知告訴我們一些電梯不成文的禮儀，故選B。

2.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally (對(duì)角線地) across from each other to create distance.試圖彼此之間要保持一定的距離，故選D。

3.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every corner. 當(dāng)有四個(gè)人在電梯中的時(shí)候經(jīng)常這四個(gè)人各站一個(gè)角，故選C。

4.詞義猜測(cè)題。根據(jù)when the doors slide open and then act decisively需要及時(shí)判斷情況找好自己的位置，故選A。

5.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)Why are we so awkward in lifts? “You don’t have enough space,” 因?yàn)闆](méi)有足夠的空間，故選B。

考點(diǎn)：社會(huì)現(xiàn)象類短文閱讀。