Women have been driving yellow cabs in New York since the 1940s, but 99% of drivers are male. Even among drivers of cars booked by phone or online, only 4% are women. That may change with the launch of SheTaxis, an app that lets female passengers insist on female drivers, and vice versa.
It will be available in New York City, Westchester and Long Island, and the firm plans to expand to other cities. Stella Mateo, the founder, is betting that quite a few women are nervous and weary of getting into cars driven by men. The service may also appeal to those whose religious beliefs forbid them to travel with unrelated men. Each driver wears a pink pashmina. Men who ask for a ride will be directed to another car service.
Similar services thrive in India, South Africa and several Middle Eastern cities. Japan has had women-only railway carriages on and off since 1912. Known as hana densha (flower trains), they of fer shelter from the
gropers
who make rush hour in Tokyo so disagreeable.
But SheTaxis faces two speed bumps. One is practical. Demand has been so great that the firm has had to decelerate its launch until it can recruit 500 drivers. The other obstacle is legal. By employing only female drivers, SheTaxis is obviously discriminating against men. Since anti-discrimination law is not always applied with common sense, that may be illegal. And there is no shortage of potential litigants. Yellow cabbies are furious at the growth of online taxi firms such as Uber. "It's not hard to imagine a guy... filing suit," says Sylvia Law of New York University Law School. "SheTaxis' defence would probably be that its drivers are all independent contractors."
Because the firm caters only to women, it is discriminating against male customers, too. Is that legal? Angela Cornell of Cornell Law School thinks there could be a loophole. New York's Human Rights Commission could make an exemption on the ground that SheTaxi offers a service that is in the public interest: women feel safer not getting into cars with strange men. Women-only colleges are allowed, so why not women-only cabs? The snag is that some men may also feel safer getting into cabs with female drivers. A study in 2010 found that 80% of crashes in New York City that kill or seriously injure pedestrians involve male drivers. Women drivers are simply better.
单选题
We can learn from the first paragraph that SheTaxis______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：推断题。根据题干定位到第一段。原文指出That may change with the launch of SheTaxis，an apP that lets female passengers insist on female drivers，and vice versa．关键是vice versa(反过来也一样)的理解。由此可知SheTaxis专为女性服务，女乘客选择女司机，女司机也可以选择女乘客，因此C项为正确答案。A项“会增加开黄色出租车的女司机数量”，B项“会改变网上订车的市场”，D项“允许男乘客选择男司机”，均与原文不符。
单选题
It can be inferred that the service of SheTaxis may appeal to______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：推断题。根据题干定位到第二段。由原文…is betting that quite a few women are nervous and weary of getting into cars driven by men．The service may also appeal to those whose religious beliefs forbid them to travel with unrelated men．可知B项“有某种宗教信仰的女性”为正确答案。A项“对出租车司机感到紧张的女性”，原文指的是男司机。C项“厌倦了坐出租车的女性”，是对原文的曲解。D项“要求搭车的男性”，与原文不符。
单选题
The word "gropers" (Para. 3) probably refers to______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：含义题。根据题干定位到第三段。由原文Known as hana densha(flower trains)，they offer shelter from the gropers who make rush hour in Tokyo so disagreeable．可知花朵列车为女性提供了庇护所，使她们免遭gropers，那么groper肯定是对女性不利，由此推断B项“对女性进行性骚扰的男人”为正确答案。A项“引发交通堵塞的人”和C项“引起东京早高峰的男人”都是对原文的曲解。D项“使乘列车变得令人讨厌的人”没有B项精确、具体。
单选题
If SheTaxis is accused of discriminating against men, it may______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：推断题。根据题干定位到第四段。原文指出“It’s not hard to imagine a guy…filing suit，”“SheTaxis’defence would probably be that its drivers are all independent contractors”，由此推断，如果SheTaxis因为歧视男性而被控诉的话，它将通过辩护来保护它的司机们，因此D项为正确答案。A项“减缓其作为网上出租车公司的上市脚步”，B项“男女司机都雇佣”，C项“使反性别歧视法不适用”，均与原文不符。
单选题
SheTaxis may be exempt from illegality by New York's Human Rights Commission because ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据题干定位到第五段。由原文New York’s Human Rights Commission could make an exemption on the ground that SheTaxi offers a service that is in the public interest：women feel safer not getting into cars with strange men．可知A项“它提供的服务基于公众利益”为正确答案。B项“它歧视男乘客”，C项“它也为男乘客提供服务”，D项“它减少了由男司机引发的交通事故”，均与原文不符。