首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Queuse are long. Life is short. So why waste time waiting when you can pay someone to do it for you? In Washington D. C. — a cit
Queuse are long. Life is short. So why waste time waiting when you can pay someone to do it for you? In Washington D. C. — a cit
admin
2009-05-09
63
问题
Queuse are long. Life is short. So why waste time waiting when you can pay someone to do it for you? In Washington D. C. — a city that struggles with more than its share of bureaucratic practices — a small industry is emerging that will queue for you to get everything from a driver’s license to a seat in a congressional hearing.
Michael Dbrsey, one of the pioneering"service expediters", began going to traffic courts for other people back in 1988. Today his fees start at $ 20 and can go into the thousands to plead individual cases at the Bureau of Traffic Adjudication (his former employer). Mr. Dorsey knows what a properly written parking ticket looks like, and often gets fines invalidated on its failures in formality. His clients include congressmen and diplomats, as well as firms for which tickets are an occupational hazard, such as taxi operators and television broadcasters.
Service expediters are not universally loved. Non-tax income, like fines and fees, makes up a-bout 7% of local-government revenue in Washington. Mr. Dorsey alone relieves that fund of $ 150, 000 a year. Meanwhile, citizen advocacy groups keep complaining about expediters such as the Congressional Services Company and CVK Group that specialise in saving places for congressional hearings. Committees hearing hot topics such as energy regulation often do not have enough seats. Why should a well-heeled lobbyist who has paid $ 30 an hour to a professional place-holder grab the place? Critics say this perpetuates a two-layered system;the rich get good government service, but the poor still have to wait.
This seems a little harsh. Service expeditors can hardly be blamed for creating the unfair system they profit from. Anyway, it’s not only rich corporate types who benefit from their services. Poor foreigners with little English hire expediters to navigate the ticket-fighting process; so do elderly anddisabled people who want to save time on errands that require long hours standing in line.
And, who knows, the service expediters might even shame the bureaucrats into pulling their socks up. Back in 1999, Washington’s mayor, Tony Williams, promised to liberate citizens from the tyranny of the government queue. Things have gotten a bit better, but the 20-minute task of renewing a driver’s license can still take days. Hiring an expert to confront the bureaucratic beast on your behalf takes care of that.
It can be inferred from the text that service expediters could possibly
选项
A、sort out troubles for elderly and disabled people.
B、help collect fines for local governments.
C、sting the government into improving services.
D、help poor foreigners navigate home.
答案
A
解析
该题为细节题。根据第四段第三句“…so do elderly and disabled people who want to save time on errands that require long hours standing in line.”可知,这些服务加速者代替老年人和残疾人排队,这样老年人和残疾人可以节省排队的时间,A项认为服务加速者可以为老年人和残疾人排忧解难,符合文意;根据第三段第二句和第三句可知,非税金收入,比如罚金,占华盛顿政府年收入的7%,仅多斯先生一人就使华盛顿政府每年减少了15万美元的收入,B项与文意相反;根据最后一段第一句“And,who knows,the service expediters might even shame the bureaucrats into pulling their socks up.”可知,作者认为服务加速者也许能使政府感到羞愧而努力改善服务,并不是激怒政府,故排除C;根据第四段第三句“Pool foreigners with little English hire expediters to navigate the ticket-fighting process…”可知,那些几乎不懂英语的可怜的外国人雇佣服务加速者来应对交通违章罚单申辩,而不是D项中的帮助贫穷的外国人回家。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/6fPd777K
本试题收录于:
公共英语四级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语四级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
Periodicallyinhistory,therecomeperiodsofgreattransitioninwhichworkchangesitsmeaning.Therewasatime,perhaps10,
Somechoicesmayberequiredmorethanonce.SectionAChangecanbeablessingoracurse,dependingonyourperspecti
Besidesthefunctionsasavitalentertainmentmedium,whatelsecanpeopleuseaTVas?
Besidesthefunctionsasavitalentertainmentmedium,whatelsecanpeopleuseaTVas?
Itwasacold,rainyandwhollymiserableafternooninWashington,andahotmuggynightinMiami.ItwasSunday,andthreegame
WhatwastheAmericaneconomicsystembasedonuntil1930?
"Down-to-earth"meanssomeoneorsomethingthatishonest,realisticandeasytodealwith.Itisapleasureto(31)______some
Howdowemeasuretheeconomicreturntohighereducation?Typicallyitiscalculatedasthedifferencebetweenaveragewagesof
HumanintelligenceandtheIQscalesusedtomeasureitonceagainarebecomingthefocusoffierydebate.Asargumentrages
HumanintelligenceandtheIQscalesusedtomeasureitonceagainarebecomingthefocusoffierydebate.Asargumentrages
随机试题
抽油机井活塞往复运动的动力直接由()传递。
合同解除的特征有_______、_______、________、_______。
某校长甲欲将一套住房以50万元出售。某报记者乙找到甲,出价40万元,甲拒绝。乙对甲说:“我有你贪污的材料,不答应我就举报你。”甲信以为真,以40万元将该房卖与乙。乙实际并无甲贪污的材料。关于该房屋买卖合同的效力,下列说法正确的是()
人参用于抢救虚脱,常用人煎剂的剂量是
以下不属于资产保管内部控制范围的是( )。
甲公司为扩大生产规模,拟采用发行可转换公司债券方式筹集资金用于新建一条生产线(包括建筑物建造,设备购买与安装两部分)。2015年1月1日,甲公司经批准发行5年期,面值为3000万元、按年付息一次还本、票面年利率为6%的可转换公司债券,实际收款29
下列关于多媒体技术的叙述中,哪些是正确的?()(1)多媒体技术是基于计算机技术的综合技术(2)多媒体技术包括了数字信号处理技术(3)多媒体技术包括了计算机软/硬件技术(4)多媒体技术包括报刊印刷技术
在函这一公文文种中,联合行文时,发文机关标志应使用()标志。
柏拉图认为是造物主创造了我们这有生有灭、变化万千的世界。他相信人生活的世界是球形的,这结论非常正确,可他的出发点却非常奇特并非依据事实,而是因为相信神创造的世界应该是非常完满的,而球形——这一完全对称的形体——是最完善的形状。这段文字的主要意思是:
OncefoundalmostentirelyinthewesternUnitedStatesandinAsia,dinosaurfossilsarenowbeingdiscoveredonallsevencont
最新回复
(
0
)