Like most people, I’ve long understood that I’ll be judged by my occupation, that my profession is used by people to see how talented I am. Recently, however, I was disappointed to see that it also decides how I’m treated as a person.
Last year I left a professional position as a small-town reporter and took a job waiting tables. As someone paid to serve food to people, I had customers say and do things to me I suppose they’d never say or do to the people they know. One night a man talking on his cell phone waved me away, then called me back with his finger a minute later, saying angrily that he was ready to order and asking where I’d been.
I had waited tables during summers in college and was treated like a peon（勤杂工） by plenty of people. But at 19 years old, I believed I deserved inferior（低等的）treatment from professional adults. Besides, people responded to me differently after I told them I was in college. Customers would joke that one day I’d be sitting at their table, waiting to be served.
Once I graduated I took a job at a munity newspaper. From my first day, I heard a respectful tone from everyone who called me. I assumed this was the way the professional world worked--- politely and formally.
I soon found out differently. I sat several feet away from a person in advertising department with a similar name. Our calls would often get mixed up and someone asking for Kristen would be transferred to Christie. The mistake was immediately clear. Perhaps it was because of money, but people used a tone with Kristen that they never used with me.
It’s no secret that there’s a lot to put up with when waiting tables, and fortunately, much of it can be easily forgotten when you pocket the tips. The service industry exists to meet others’ needs. Still, it seemed that many of my customers didn’t get the difference between server and servant.
I’m now applying to graduate school, which means someday I’ll return to a profession where people need to be nice to me in order to get what they want. I think I’ll take them to dinner first, and see how they treat someone whose job is to serve them.
68. What makes the author disappointed?
A. Professionals tend to look down upon workers.
B. Talented people have to do the job waiting tables.
C. One’s position is used to measure one’s intelligence.
D. Occupation affects the way one is treated as a person.
69. What does the author intend to say by the example in Paragraph 2?
A. Waiting tables is a hard job.
B. Some customers are difficult to deal with.
C. The man making a phone call is absent-minded.
D. Some customers show no respect to those who serve them.
70. How did the author feel when waiting tables at the age of 19?
A. She felt it unfair to be treated as a servant.
B. She found it natural for professionals to treat her as inferior.
C. She was embarrassed each time her customers joked with her.
D. She felt badly hurt when her customers regarded her as a peon.
71. The author says one day she’ll take her customers to dinner in order to .
A. see what kind of person they are
B. experience the feeling of being served
C. share her working experience with her customers
D. help them realize the difference between server and servant 68.D；69. D；70.B；71. A
网友回答
(答案→)68.D；69. D；70.B；71. A
解析：
68. 选D。原文首段第2句Recently, however, I was disappointed to see that it also decides how I’m treated as a person.可知。从句中的主语it指代前一句中的my occupation(职业)，由此可以看出，让作者感到失望的是“我的工作也能决定我身而为人是如何被对待的”，选项D“人的工作可以影响到他作为一个人被对待的方式”与原文是同义转述，因此D为答案。
69. 选D。第2段所举事例是说，作者在当饭店招待员时碰到了一位蛮横无礼的顾客，对她随意地呼来唤去。由此可见，作者想表达的意思是：很多顾客不尊重为他们提供服务的人，所以D正确。
70. 选B。原文第3段第2句But at 19 years old, I believed I deserved inferior treatment from professional adults可知作者19岁时在饭店当招待员，不被顾客尊重，她对此的看法是“deserved inferior treatment”，即“比别人低人一等是理所应当的”，换句话说，作者认为 这是十分自然的，即选项B所述的“natural”。正确答案为B。
71. 选A。由原文末段最后一句I’ll take them to dinner first, and see how they treat someone whose only job is to serve them可知对于有求于她的人，作者会先带他去吃饭，看看他是如何对待那些为他们提供服务的人。结合前文作者的经历和感受，可以看出，作者是想通过观察他对服务生的态度和举止来了解这个人的品性，故选项A为答案。