阅读试题

We've considered several ways of paying to cut in line: hiring line standers, buying tickets from scalpers(票贩子), or purchasing line-cutting privileges directly from, say, an airline or an amusement park. Each of these deals replaces the morals of the queue (waiting your turn) with the morals of the market (paying a price for faster service).

Markets and queues—paying and waiting—are two different ways of allocating things, and each is appropriate to different activities. The morals of the queue, "First come, first served," have an egalitarian (平等主义的) appeal. They tell us to ignore privilege, power, and deep pockets.

The principle seems right on playgrounds and at bus stops. But the morals of the queue do not govern all occasions. If I put my house up for sale, I have no duty to accept the first offer that comes along, simplybecause it's the first. Selling my house and waiting for a bus are different activities, properly governedby different standards.

Sometimes standards change, and it is unclear which principle should apply. Think of the recorded message you hear, played over and over, as you wait on hold when calling your bank: “Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.” This is essential for the morals of the queue. It's as if the company is trying to ease our impatience with fairness.

But don't take the recorded message too seriously. Today, some people's calls are answered faster than others. Call center technology enables companies to “score” incoming calls and to give faster service to those that come from rich places. You might call this telephonic queue jumping.

Of course, markets and queues are not the only ways of allocating things. Some goods we distribute by merit, others by need, still others by chance. However, the tendency of markets to replace queues, and other non-market ways of allocating goods is so common in modern life that we scarcely notice it anymore. It is striking that most of the paid queue-jumping schemes we've considered—at airports and amusement parks, in call centers, doctors' offices, and national parks—are recent developments, scarcely imaginable three decades ago. The disappearance of the queues in these places may seem an unusual concern, but these are not the only places that markets have entered.

阅读试题

58. According to the author, which of the following seems governed by the principle “First come, first served”?

A. Taking buses. 　　　　

B. Buying houses.

C. Flying with an airline. 　

D. Visiting amusement parks.

59. The example of the recorded message in Paragraphs 4 and 5 illustrates ______.

A. the necessity of patience in queuing

B. the advantage of modern technology

C. the uncertainty of allocation principle

D. the fairness of telephonic services

60. The passage is meant to ______.

A. justify paying for faster services

B. discuss the morals of allocating things

C. analyze the reason for standing in line

D. criticize the behavior of queue jumping

参考译文

我们认为花钱插队有几种方法：聘人站队，从票贩子那购买门票，或者说是一家航空公司或游乐园，直接享有特权。这些交易用支付更快服务的市场原则取代了守纪等候的排队原则。

市场和排队，付出代价与等候，这是两种不同的分配方式，每种各适合不同的活动。“先到先享有服务”的排队原则号召平等主义。他们告诉我们要忽略特权、权力以及雄厚的资金。

排队原则用在操场和公交车站似乎是恰当的。但排队原则不能用于所有场合。如果我要出售我的房子，我没有义务必须接受第一次报价，很简单，因为这是第一次。出售我的房子与等一辆公共汽车属于不同的活动，因此适合不同的标准。

有时标准也会有所变化，而我们并不清楚应该应用哪些原则。想到你自己给银行打电话时，一边拿着电话等待，一边听着那反复播放的录音留言:“请耐心等待，您的电话将按照秩序接通。”对于队列原则而言，这至关重要，就好像是公司在试图公平地缓解我们的不耐烦。

但是不要把录音消息太当回事。今天，有一些人的电话比其他人的电话回答得更快。呼叫中心的技术能使企业记录收入型来电，以便给那些来自富裕地方的人更快的服务。你可以称之为电话插队。

当然，市场和队列并不是唯一的分配方式。我们的物品有的根据价值分配，有的根据需求分配，有的则是随机分配。然而市场取代队列的趋势以及其他非市场分配商品的方式在现代生活中很常见，以至于我们几乎都不会注意到它。我们认为发生在机场、游乐园、呼叫中心、医生的办公室以及国家公园的大部分插队计划近期又有新的发展，几乎难以想象三十年前的样子，这令人震惊。这些地方队列的消失似乎是一个不同寻常的问题，但这并不是市场渗入的唯一场所。

答案解析

58. A 考查细节理解。根据第二段后两句和第三段第一句"The principle seems right on playgrounds and at bus stops."可知，该原则（先到的先招待）适用于排队等车。所以答案选B项。

59. C 考查推理判断。从第四段的第一句"Sometimes standards change, and it is unclear which principle should apply."和第四、五段的内容可知，这两段提到的电话留言的例子是为了说明分配原则的不确定性。所以答案选C项。

60. B 考查写作意图。从第一段中的"Each of these deals replaces the morals of the queue(waiting your turn) with the morals of the market( paying a price for faster service) ."及全文内容可知，本文主要讲的是市场与排队在需要分配时存在的一些道德现象。所以答案选B。