In a moment of personal crisis, 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, but nobody asked. The only response came from a Ghanaian driver, “Reno? That is in Nevada?”
Taxi drivers were uniformly 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. A Pakistani driver even turned down a chance to profit from my loss of hope; he refused to take me to the middle of 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 and holding a stuffed pillowcase with the word “BANK” on it, I tried calling a taxi five times outside different banks. The driver picked me up every time. My ride with a Haitian driver was typical of the superb assistance I received.
“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 don’t 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, 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.
小题1:. From the Ghanaian driver’s 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 |
小题2:. Why did the Pakistani driver refuse to take the author to the middle of the George Washington Bridge?
| A．Because he was able to help the author to find a new job. |
| B．Because he wanted to go home and relax. |
| C．Because it was far away from his home. |
| D．Because he thought that the author would commit suicide. |
小题3:.What is the author’s interpretation of the driver’s 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 did not want to help a suspect to escape from a bank robbery. |
小题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 often 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. |
小题5:. The passage mainly discusses ____.
| A．how to please taxi drivers. |
| B．how to deal with taxi drivers |
| C．the attitudes of taxi drivers towards riders in personal trouble |
| D．the attitudes of taxi drivers towards troublesome taxi riders |