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In a moment of personal crisis (危机), how much help can you expect from a New York taxi driver? I began studying this 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, 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（一致地）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: “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. Don’t worry. Take a new job.”
One very hot weekday in July, while wearing a red ski mask（面具）and holding a stuffed (塞满的) pillowcase with the word “BANK” on it, I tried hailing (招呼) 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（一流的）assistance I received.
“Is anyone following us?”
“No,” said the driver, looking in his rearview mirror at traffic and me.
“Let’s 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 earn just $70. If I can do that, I do it too.”
As we approached 86, Lexington Street, 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 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 can’t expect unconditional support.
1. From the Ghanaian driver’s response, we can infer that ________.
A. he was not caring about the killing
B. he was frightened to hear what the writer said
C. he thought the writer was a criminal
D. he thought the writer was crazy
2. Why did the Pakistani driver refuse to give the writer a ride ?
A. He didn’t want to help the writer get over his career crisis.
B. He was in a hurry to go home and relax.
C. The place was far away.
D. He thought the writer was going to kill himself.
3. The underlined word “reluctance” in the last paragraph most probably means________.
A. anger B. unwillingness C. opportunity D. eagerness
4. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. Honesty of taxi drivers in New York.
B. Taxi riders’ awareness of possible dangers.
C. Taxi drivers’ attitudes towards riders.
D. Importance of the education of taxi drivers.
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When our son, Alex, was young, he hated to travel. We endured refusals to visit one more museum, even if it was the Louvre. We coped with a child who resisted even a taste of onion soup in Paris and who insisted he would like nothing more than ordering room service at the hotel and watching TV.
Over the years, we have come up with several hard-earned but realistic strategies to help kids cope on long-distance trips.
First, we recognize that some children have trouble adjusting to new environments, food, time zones and schedules. So, in advance of a trip to England, we gave our son a taste of the new culture by making shepherd’s pie for supper. He loved the mashed potatoes, chopped meat and brown gravy（肉汁）. For Italy, we sampled homemade pesto（香蒜沙司） served over linguine（扁面条）. For Amsterdam, I cooked up a pot of comforting pea soup and baked a delicious apple pancake called pannekoeken. Then, when we traveled to these places, he ate these foods and they seemed like a taste of home.
In addition to food, we always sample the culture beforehand by reading books and renting movies from the countries we will be visiting. For Italy, the book Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino and the films Johnny Stecchino, Cinema Paradiso, and Il Postino gave our son a glimpse of the Italian way of life. For Britain, we rented Mr. Bean and Billy Elliot, and enjoyed stories by J.R.R. Tolkien and E. Nesbit. For Amsterdam, he finished The Diary of Anne Frank.
Before we leave home, we also ask Alex to go through our tour books and pick out activities that appeal to him. He was excited about visiting the London Dungeon and the Imperial War Museum, and taking a ride in the London Eye. They turned out to be big hits. Because Alex’s preferences were given equal attention, he was more tolerant of his parents’ selections, such as visiting Charters Cathedral and the Van Gogh Museum.
We’ve also learned the hard way that dragging our son out of bed early in the morning ,thus making him grumpy all day. Now that he is a teenager, we let him sleep in while we sip coffee at a café, work out at the hotel gym, or take a long walk. This makes our time together much more enjoyable
59．According to the writer, parents are advised to _______.
A. cook children’s favorite food
B. postpone traveling until the kids are in college
C. allow their kids a ride in the London Eye
D. take children’s interest and preferences into account
60．Cinema Paradiso and Il Postino are mentioned as _______.
A. particular desires of children B. an approach to interest the future possible visit
C. highly appreciated films for tourists D. comfortable activities children could pick out
61．The underlined word “grumpy” in the last paragraph is similar in meaning to _______.
A. bad-tempered B. tolerant C. energetic D. nervous
62．Which of the following might serve as a possible title for this passage?
A. Kids and Parents. B. Joys of Traveling.
C. Whether You Go or Not. D. How to motivate Kids to travel