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  3. My car’s gear lever does more than dispense transmission rations. It panders to me. It cajoles and beckons. It wears out its chr

My car’s gear lever does more than dispense transmission rations. It panders to me. It cajoles and beckons. It wears out its chr

admin2015-10-21  29
问题     My car’s gear lever does more than dispense transmission rations. It panders to me. It cajoles and beckons. It wears out its chrome heart to make my life easier, for—as its manufacturers are quick to claim—the company devotes hundreds of man-hours to testing and retesting each possible design and configuration to see which does the job best. Which shape fits most naturally into a human hand? Which covering is most pleasing? And which overall look makes your fingers tremble with anticipation?
    This curious pursuit, reputedly espoused by and entrenched within all of today’s major manufacturing firms, is called ergonomics, defined as "the degree to which the system has been developed with the human user in mind". Personally, I like the sound of the word. I wish only that the results lived up to the hype.
    Recently, for example, I purchased a rowing machine for home exercise. Within minutes of unwrapping my booty, I realized the unit I was so cautiously dissecting did not in any way match the color picture on the box. The assembly instructions hinted darkly that putting the contraption together would be only slightly less complex than building a nuclear reactor. Perseverance paid off, however. After applying equal amounts of time and luck, I was finally able to make my rower. But the only cogent ergonomic thought that went into the design of this product was the shape of the cardboard container it was packed in. That’s ergonomics in the real world.
    Take videocassette recorders: VCRs are like snowflakes—no two are quite alike. While all are intended to do more or less the same things—play, record now, record later—the actual designs are about as consistent and predictable as a roulette wheel. If you lose or misplace the manual, you end up with little more than a digital clock.
    And then there is the ubiquitous microwave oven. What do those "low" /’medium" and "high" settings really hint at? Show me a consumer sufficiently schooled in the effect of microwave transmissions on food molecules to properly—and intuitively—select the optimal setting! Only small children, bless then, seem to know how to make these machines bend to their wills. "Put it on high and blast it," says my nine-year-old niece. I do. It works.
    Can anyone truly say the modern car is designed with the human user in mind? Recall the last time you plopped behind the wheel of your neighbor’s new vehicle. How quickly did you find the knob that popped open the bonnet or the hood? Were you able to adjust the left-side mirror without adjusting the right-side mirror, activating the headlight washers or wipers, or possibly lowering the convertible top? Did you know which lever to push or pull to slide the seat forward without simultaneously upsetting the angle of the seat back or exploding the pneumatically pressured back-support?
    As with most of today’s products, the only thing we really know about car seats is that, given the correct incentive, they will move. Beyond that, you—and your ergonomically inspired intuition— are completely on your own.
What disturbs the writer about video-recorders?
选项 A、They are easily damaged.
B、It is difficult to operate them.
C、They vary for no obvious reasons.
D、They are complex.
答案C
解析 细节题。第四段提到作者对盒式磁带录像机的不满：……就像雪花一样，没有两台是一样的。虽然其功能几乎大同小异——播放、即时录制、稍后录制——但实际设计却和轮盘赌一样不稳定，不可预测。一旦你将手册指南丢了或忘记把它放哪了，录像机就只不过是一个数字座钟。可见，作者认为“录像机各不相同是毫无道理的”，故[C]为答案。作者没有提到录像机容易坏，故排除[A]；录像机难于操作、结构复杂都不是作者抱怨的原因，故排除[B]和[D]。
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