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閱讀理解
In a moment of personal crisis(危機(jī)), how much help can you expect from a New York taxi driver?I began studying this question and found the answers interesting.
One morning I got into three different taxis and announced:“Well, it’s my first day back in New York in seven years.I’ve been in prison.”Not a single driver replied, so I tried again,“Yeah, I shot a man in Reno.”I explained, hoping the driver would ask me why, so I could say casually,“Just to watch him die.”But nobody asked.The only response came from a Ghanaian driver:“Reno?That is in Nevada?”
Taxi drivers were uniformly sympathetic(有同情心的)when I said I’d just been fired.“This is America,”a Haitian driver said,“One door is closed.Another is open.”He argued against my plan to burn down my boss’ house:“if you do something silly and they put you away, you cannot look for another job.”A Pakistani driver even turned down a chance to profit(獲益)from my loss of hope.He refused to take me to the middle of the George Washington Bridge, a $20 trip.
“Why you want to go there?Go home and relax.Don’t worry.Take a new job.”
One very hot weekday in July, while wearing a red ski mask(面具)and holding a stuffed(塞滿的)pillowcase with the word“BANK”on it, I tried hailing(招呼)a taxi five times outside different banks.The driver picked me up every time.My ride with Guy Caaude Thevenain, a Haitian driver, was typical of the superb assistance I received.
“Is anyone following us?”
“No,”said the driver, looking in his rearview mirror at traffic and me.
“Let’s go across the park,”I said.“I just robbed the bank there.I got $25,000.”
“$25,000?”he asked.
“Yeah, you think it was wrong to take it?”
“No, man.I work 8 hours and I earn just $70.If I can do that, I do it too.”
As we approached the 86th of Lexington, I pointed to the Chemical Bank.
“Hey, there’s another bank,”I said,“Could you wait here a minute while I go inside?”
“No, I can’t wait.Pay me now.”His reluctance may have something to do with money - taxi drivers think the rate for waiting time is too low - but I think he wanted me to learn that even a bank robber can’t expect unconditional support.
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