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  3. Over the course of many years, without making any great fuss about it, the authorities in New York disabled most of the control

Over the course of many years, without making any great fuss about it, the authorities in New York disabled most of the control

admin2022-11-16  74
问题     Over the course of many years, without making any great fuss about it, the authorities in New York disabled most of the control buttons that once operated pedestrian-crossing lights in the city. By 2004, fewer than 750 of 3,250 such buttons remained functional. The city government did not, however, take the disabled buttons away—signaling countless fingers to futile pressing.
    Initially, the buttons survived because of the cost of removing them. But it turned out that even inoperative buttons serve a purpose. Pedestrians who press a button are less likely to cross before the green man appears, says Tal Oron-Gilad of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Israel.
    Inoperative buttons produce such beneficial effects because people like an impression of control over systems they are using, says Eytan Adar, an expert on human-computer interaction at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr Adar notes that his students commonly design software with a clickable "save" button that has no role other than to reassure those users who are unaware that their keystrokes are saved automatically anyway.
    That is one view. But, at road crossings at least, disabled buttons may also have a darker side. Ralf Risser, head of FACTUM, a Viennese institute that studies psychological factors in traffic systems, reckons that pedestrians’ awareness of their existence, and consequent resentment at the deception, now outweighs the benefits.
    Something which happened in Lebanon supports that view. Crossing buttons introduced in Beirut between 2005 and 2009 proved a failure. Pedestrians wanted them to summon a "walk" signal immediately, rather than at the next appropriate phase in the traffic-light cycle, as is normal. The authorities therefore disabled them, putting walk signals on a preset schedule instead. Word spread that button-pressing had become pointless. The consequent frustration increased the amount of people who ignore the traffic lights while crossing the road, says Zaher Massaad, formerly a senior traffic engineer for the Lebanese government.
    Beirut’s disabled buttons are, says Mr. Massaad, now being removed. They should all be gone within three years. New York has similarly stripped crossings of non-functioning buttons, says Josh Benson, the city’s deputy commissioner for traffic operations, though it does retain about 100 working ones. These are in places where pedestrians are sufficiently rare that stopping the traffic automatically is unjustified. However, internet debate about disabled buttons has become so common that doubt, although misguided, seems to be growing about even these functioning buttons’ functionality. This suspicion, says Mr Benson, has spread beyond New York, to include places such as Los Angeles, where almost all the crossing buttons have always worked, at least during off-peak hours.
    Truth be told, though, the end may be near for all road-crossing buttons, disabled or not. At an increasing number of junctions, those waiting to cross can be detected, and even counted, using cameras or infrared and microwave detectors. Dynniq, a Dutch firm, recently equipped an intersection in Tilburg with a system that recognizes special apps on the smartphones of the elderly or disabled, and provides those people with 5 to 12 extra seconds to cross. That really will be pleasing.
    A. notes that the cost of removing the buttons may pose challenges to the authorities.
    B. believes that doubt about the disabled buttons has extended to more places.
    C. assumes that the anger caused by disabled buttons led to a rise in people who cross without paying attention to the traffic.
    D. remarks that pressing a button can reduce the probability of crossing the road illegally.
    E. says that there are places where pedestrians are rare and stopping the traffic automatically is unjustified.
    F. points out that people’s consciousness of the disabled button, as well as the anger followed, causes more harm than good.
    G. shares that the software designed by his students often offers a "save" button, which, in fact, is of no use.
Josh Benson
选项
答案B
解析 根据关键词Josh Benson定位到第六段。该段通过观点标志词says表明其观点：New York has similarly stripped crossings of non-functioning buttons, says Josh Benson, the city’s deputy commissioner for traffic operations, though it does retain about 100 working ones (纽约也拆除了失效的过街按钮，但还保留了大约100个正常工作的按钮)以及This suspicion has spread beyond New York to include places such as Los Angeles, where almost all the crossing buttons have always worked, at least during off-peak hours(这种怀疑已经蔓延到纽约以外的地方，包括洛杉矶这样的地方。在那些地方，几乎所有的十字路口按钮都是正常工作的，至少在非高峰时间是这样)。B项 believes that doubt about the disabled buttons has extended to more places，以doubt同义替换原文suspicion，以has extended to more places同义替换原文has spread beyond New York，指出“人们对无效的信号灯按钮的怀疑情绪已经蔓延到了其他地方”，因此选项B与Josh Benson观点一致，故为正确答案。
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