One summer I was driving from my home town of Tahoe City，Calif.，to New Orleans.In the middle of the desert，I came upon a young man standing by the roadside.He had his thumb out and held a gas can in his other hand.I drove right by him.There was a time in the country when you’d be considered a jerk if you passed by somebody in need.Now you are a fool for helping.With gangs，drug addicts，murderers，rapists，thieves lurking everywhere，“I don’t want to get involved” has bee a national motto.
Several states later I was still thinking about the hitchhiker.Leaving him standing in the desert did not bother me so much.What bothered me was how easily I had reached the decision.I never even lifted my foot off the accelerator.
Does anyone stop any more？I wondered.I recalled Blanche DuBois’s famous line：“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”．Could anyone rely on the kindness of strangers these days？One way to test this would be for a person to journey from coast to coast without any money，relying solely on the good will of his fellow Americans.What kind of Americans would he find？Who would feed him，shelter him，carry him down the road?
The idea intrigued me.
The week I turned 37，I realized that I had never taken a gamble in my life.So I decided to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic without a penny.It would be a cashless journey through the land of the almighty dollar.I would only accept offers of rides，food and a place to rest my head.My final destination would be Cape Fear in North Carolina，a symbol of all the fears I’d have to conquer during the trip.
I rose early on September 6,1994，and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge with a 50pound pack on my back and a sign displaying my destination to passing vehicles：“America”．
For six weeks I hitched 82 rides and covered 4,223 miles across 14 states.As I traveled，folks were always warning me about someplace else.In Montana they told me to watch out for the cowboys in Wyoming；in Nebraska they said people would not be as nice as in Iowa.Yet I was treated with kindness everywhere I went.I was amazed by people’s readiness to help a stranger，even when it seemed to run contrary to their own best interests.
【小题1】Why did the author drive past the young man in the desert without stopping?A．Because he failed to notice this man.B．Because he was driving too fast.C．Because he thought the young man didn’t need help.D．Because he was afraid of being tricked.【小题2】What was it that made the author upset?A．Leaving the young man alone in the desert.B．Being considered a fool.C．Making the decision of not offering help so easily.D．Keeping thinking about the young man.【小题3】The author decided to travel without a penny in order to .A．find out how long he could survive without helpB．go through the great difficulty in surviving unexpected environmentC．find out whether strangers would offer help to himD．figure out how strangers thought of his plan【小题4】The following part might probably .A．describe how he fooled the strangersB．describe how strangers went out their way to help himC．explain why people refused to help strangersD．explain how he overcame his difficulties on the wayD
网友回答
(答案→)D
解析：
【小题1】D
解析 细节理解题。根据文章第一段最后两句可知，如今人们不想因为帮助陌生人而陷入麻烦，作者正是受这种思想的影响，而没有停车。
【小题2】C
解析 细节理解题。根据文章第二段中的“What bothered me was how easily I had reached the decision.”可知，使作者感到不安的是自己怎么会那么轻易就作出了不伸出援手的决定。
【小题3】C
解析 细节理解题。根据文章第三段最后三句的内容以及第四段“The idea intrigued me.”可知，作者决定进行这次“身无分文”的旅行是想看看是否会有陌生人帮助他，因此选择C项。
【小题4】B
解析 篇章结构题。根据最后一段的描述可知，作者无论到哪儿都会得到帮助，甚至一些人宁愿违背自己的利益，也会去帮助他，因此下文作者会具体说明人们是如何尽力帮助他的。