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 (礼仪) is sort of odd (奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “Elevators are socially very interesting but often very awkward (尴尬的) 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, lift users 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 (对角线地) across from each other to create distance.

When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle（三角形）. 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 according to their decisions. 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 understood as threatening or odd. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact(接触) ,” she said.

1.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. try to keep a distance from other people  

D. make eye contact with those in the elevator

2.Which of the following describes how people usually stand when there are at least two people in an elevator? (The point in the chart refers to one person.)

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

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

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

A. the lack of space                          

B. someone’s odd behaviors

C. their unfamiliarity with one another           

D. their eye contact with one another

Answer

1.C

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】

试题分析：文章主要分析了人们乘坐电梯时的行为。平时乘坐电梯时，很少有人会注意到自己的行为。人们进入电梯后，都会无意识地与他人保持距离，当电梯变得拥挤时，人们就会觉得很尴尬。

1.1】细节题：根据第三段“If someone else comes in, we may have to move. ...liftusers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements.”可知，人们往往面对电梯门站立，当有人进来时，里面的人会无意识地挪动一下，与进来的人保持距离，故选C。

2.2】根据第五段“If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally (对角线地) across from each other to create distance.”和第六段“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.”可知，当电梯里有两个人时，他们往往会站在不同的角落里，呈对角线的形状来保持距离，三个人会形成三角，四个人站成正方形，第五个人站在中间，故选C。

3.3】猜词题：从第七段的句子： New entrants to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open当有人要进入电梯，电梯门打开的那一刻，他需要权衡当前的形势，以作出决定自己该站在什么位置，“size up”的意思是“判断”。故选B。

4.4】细节题：根据第七段“Why are we so awkward ( adj. 尴尬的) in lifts?”和第八段““You don’t have enough space, ...”可知，人们的行为之所以变得古怪，是因为电梯里没有足够的空间，故选A。

考点：考查日常生活类短文