Inamomentofpersonalcrisis,howmuchhelpcanyouexpectfromaNewYorktaxidriver?Ibeganstudyingthisquestionandfoundtheanswersinteresting.
OnemorningIgotintothreedifferenttaxisandannounced,"Well,it'smyfirstdaybackinNewYorkinsevenyears.I'vebeeninprison."Notasingledriverreplied,soItriedagain."Yeah,IshotamaninReno."Iexplained,hopingthedriverwouldaskmewhy,butnobodyasked.TheonlyresponsecamefromaGhanaiandriver,"Reno?ThatisinNevada?"
TaxidriverswereuniformlysympatheticwhenIsaidI'djustbeenfired."ThisisAmerica,"aHaitiandriversaid."Onedoorisclosed.Anotherisopen."Hearguedagainstmyplantoburndownmyboss'shouse.APakistanidrivereventurneddownachancetoprofitfrommylossofhope;herefusedtotakemetothemiddleoftheGeorgeWashingtonBridge--a$20trip."Whyyouwanttogothere?Gohomeandrelax.Don'tworry.Takeanewjob."
OneveryhotweekdayinJuly,whilewearingaredskimaskandholdingastuffedpillowcasewiththeword"BANK"onit,Itriedcallingataxifivetimesoutsidedifferentbanks.Thedriverpickedmeupeverytie.MyridewithaHaitiandriverwastypicalofthesuperbassistanceIreceived.
"Let'sgoacrossthepark."Isaid."Ijustrobbedthebankthere.Igot$25,000."
"Yeah,youthinkitwaswrongtotakeit?"
"No,man.Iwork8hoursandIdon'tmakealmost$70.IfIcandothat,Idoittoo."
Asweapproached86thandLexington,IpointedtotheChemicalBank.
"Hey,there'sanotherbank,"Isaid,"CouldyouwaithereaminutewhileIgoinside?"
"No,Ican'twait.Paymenow."Hisreluctancemayhavehadsomethingtodowithmoney--taxidriversthinktherateforwaitingtimeistoolow--butIthinkhewantedmetolearnthatevenabankrobbercan'texpectunconditionalsupport.
练习题：
Choosecorrectanswerstothequestion:
1.FromtheGhanaiandriver'sresponse,wecaninferthat_____
A.hewasindifferenttothekilling
C.helookedclownupontheauthor
D.hethoughttheauthorwascrazy
2.WhydidthePakistanidriverrefusetotaketheauthortothemiddleoftheGeorgeWashingtonBridge?
A.Becausehewasabletohelptheauthortofindanewjob.
B.Becausehewantedtogohomeandrelax.
C.Becauseitwasfarawayfromhishome.
D.Becausehethoughtthattheauthorwouldcommitsuicide.
3.Whatistheauthor'sinterpretationofthedriver'sreluctance"towaitoutsidetheChemicalBank"?
A.Thedriverthoughtthattherateforwaitingtimewastoolow.
B.Thedriverthoughtitwrongtosupportataxiriderunconditionally.
C.Thedriverwasfrightenedandwantedtoleavehimassoonaspossible.
D.Thedriverdidnotwanttohelpasuspecttoescapefromabankrobbery.
4.WhichofthefollowingstatementsistrueaboutNewYorktaxidrivers?
A.Theyarereadytohelpyoudowhateveryouwantto.
B.Theyrefusetopickupthosewhowouldkillthemselves.
C.Theyaresympatheticwiththosewhoareoutofwork.
5.Thepassagemainlydiscusses_______.
B.howtodealwithtaxiriders
C.theattitudesoftaxidriverstowardsridersinpersonaltrouble
D.theattitudesoftaxidriverstowardstroublesometaxiriders
1.[A]推理判断题。从第2段最后一句的onlyresponse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’tworry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dowhateveryouwantto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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