In her international bestselling death-of-manners declaration Talk to the Hand, author Lynne Truss argues that common courtesies

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问题     In her international bestselling death-of-manners declaration Talk to the Hand, author Lynne Truss argues that common courtesies such as saying "Excuse me" are practically extinct. There are certainly plenty who would agree with her. Consider that in one recent survey, 70 percent of U. S. adults said people are ruder now than they were 20 years ago.
    Is it really true? Reader’s Digest sent reporters to New York to find out if courtesy truly is dead. They performed three experiments: "door tests" (would anyone hold one open for them?) ; "document drops" (who would help them retrieve a pile of "accidentally" dropped papers?) ; and "service tests" (which salesclerks would thank them for a purchase?).
    41. A for effort
    While 90 percent of New Yorkers passed the door test, only 55 percent did well in the document drop. Are people less likely to help others when doing so takes extra effort or time? Not always, the reporters found. ______
    42. Part of the Job
    Nineteen of the 20 clerks who were subjected to service tests passed. Roger Benjamin, the manager and coffee master at a Manhattan Starbucks, acknowledged that the chain trains its employees to be courteous. And some coffee bar technicians the RD reporters encountered went beyond basic niceties. ______
    43. Mother Knows Best
    By far, the most common reason people cited for being willing to go out of their way to help others was their upbringing. ______
    44. What Goes Around...
    Another reason people are quick to be courteous: you do what you’d want other people to do if it happened to you. ______
    45. Excuses, Excuses
    The reporters did run into a few courtesy fools. Just when we thought we’d heard every excuse in the book for not helping, along came another one. ______
    Thankfully, such responses were the exception, not the rule, which makes New York City a pretty polite place. It’s comforting to know that in a place where millions of people jostle one another each day in a push to get ahead, they’re able to do it with a smile and a thank-you. Hey, if they can make nice here, they can make nice anywhere.
     [A] Dennis Kleinman, a 57-year-old doctor and writer, used one word to sum up what drove his impulse to help: "Empathy. " He came to the aid of an RD reporter when a middle-aged woman ignored a pile of papers in front of a shop on Manhattan’s East Side. "The same thing happens to me, and I appreciate it when someone takes 10 to 15 seconds of their valuable time to help," he said.
     [B] Christine DuBois, a 49-year-old sales manager from Bayside, Queens, was headed to the gym when she stopped to retrieve a pile of scattered papers. "It’s something that’s taught to you when you’re young," she said.
     [C] "You have to feed off people’s mood," said one clerk. "You go out of your way to show customers they did us a favor by coming here. "
     [D] Margot Zimmerman, a 44-year-old computer saleswoman, was on her way into a Queens Starbucks when a reporter dropped his folder of papers right at her feet. Looking down, Zimmerman stepped carefully around the papers, then entered the shop. "I’m probably one of the most courteous people," she insisted later. "I pick up every other person’s dog poop. I help old ladies across the street. But when he dropped his papers, he made such a face. "
     [E] "I’ll hold the door for whoever’s behind me," said Pete Muller, 27, an account executive from Brooklyn. "But I’m definitely more conscious of women!" he added with a smile.
     [F] Take the pregnant woman who thought nothing of bending down to help us with our papers. Or the Queens woman named Liz who balanced two coffees, her keys and her wallet on a takeout tray with one hand, while picking up papers off the wet pavement with the other. Her reason for helping? "I was there," she said matter-of-factly.

选项

答案D

解析 小标题是“借口,借口”。标题之后的内容是记者们确实遇见过几个不懂礼貌的人,听到了各种不愿意提供帮助的借口,现在又听到了另一个更新鲜的借口。这就表明下文应该给出不愿意提供帮助的人所依赖的借口。纵观各备选项,只有[D]选项讲述了一位女士不仅不提供帮助,而且还为她的行为进行辩解。
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