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 bees this interesting social space where etiquette (礼仪) is sort of odd (奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “They [elevators] are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.”
We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else es in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, liftusers 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 bees 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 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 bees 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.
【小题1】The main purpose of the article is to .A．remind us to enjoy ourselves in the elevatorB．tell us some unwritten rules of elevator etiquetteC．share an interesting but awkward elevator rideD．analyze what makes people feel awkward in an elevator【小题2】According to Gray, when people enter an elevator, they usually .A．turn around and greet one anotherB．look around or examine their phoneC．make eye contact with those in the elevatorD．try to keep a distance from other people【小题3】Which of the following describes how people usually stand when there are at least two people in an elevator?
【小题4】The underlined phrase “size up” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to .A．judgeB．ignoreC．put up withD．make the best of【小题5】According to the article, people feel awkward in lifts because of .A．someone’s odd behaviorsB．the lack of spaceC．their unfamiliarity with one anotherD．their eye contact with one anotherB
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(答案→)B
解析：本文作者叙述了乘坐电梯的人的礼仪，由于电梯的空间小，人们进去之后如果有两个人就各自站一个角，如果有三个人人们往往就站成对角线，如果是四个人他们就站在四个角，五个人时那个人就站在中间，彼此之间都常常保持一定的距离，避免眼的接触，有的人向下看或者玩弄手机。
【小题1】作者意图题。根据The lift bees this interesting social space where etiquette (礼仪) is sort of odd (奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “They [elevators] are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.及短文的大意可知告诉我们一些电梯不成文的礼仪，故选B。
【小题2】细节理解题。根据If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally (对角线地) across from each other to create distance.试图彼此之间要保持一定的距离，故选D。
【小题3】细节理解题。根据when there is a fourth person it bees a square, with someone in every corner. 当有四个人在电梯中的时候经常这四个人各站一个角，故选C。
【小题4】词义猜测题。根据when the doors slide open and then act decisively需要及时判断情况找好自己的位置，故选A。
【小题5】细节理解题。根据Why are we so awkward in lifts? “You don’t have enough space,” 因为没有足够的空间，故选B。