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,” Gray told the BBC. “They 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, 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. 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(新进入者) 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.According to Gray, when people enter an elevator, they usually _____.

A. try to keep a distance from other people

B. look around or examine their phone

C. make eye contact with those in the elevator

D. turn around and greet one another

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

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

A. ignore           B. make the best of

C. put up with        D. judge

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

A. someone’s odd behaviors

B. their unfamiliarity with one another

C. the lack of space

D. their eye contact with one another

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.D

4.C

【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. users 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A项。

2.

3. 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，故选D项。

4.

考点：社会现象类阅读。