Passage3
Using the public telephone may well be one of the minor irritations of life, demanding patience, determination and strong possibility of failure, together on occasion with considerable unpopularity.
The hopeful caller (shall we call him George?) waits till six o’clock in the evening to take advantage of the socalled ‘cheap rates’ for a long-distance call. The telephone box, with two broken panes of glass in the side, stands at the junction of two main roads with buses, lorries and cars roaring past. It is pouring with rain as George joins a queue of four depressed-looking people. Time passes slowly and seems to come to a standstill while the person immediately before George carries on an endless conversation, pausing only to insert another coin every minute or so.
Eventually the receiver is replaced and the caller leaves the box. George enters and picks up one of the directories inside, only to discover that someone unknown has torn out the very page he needs. Nothing for it but to dial Directory Enquiries, wait patiently for a reply (while someone outside bangs repeatedly on the door) and finally note down the number given.
At last George can go ahead with his call. Just as he is starting to dial, however, the door opens and an unpleasant-looking face peers in with the demand, ‘Can’t you hurry up?’. Ignoring such barbarity, George continues to dial and his unwanted companion withdraws. At last he hears the burr-burr of the ringing tone, immediately followed by rapid pips demanding his money, but he is now so upset that he knocks down the coins he has placed ready on the top of the box. Having at last located them, he dials again: the pips are repeated and he hastily inserts the coins. A cold voice informs him, ‘Grand Hotel, Chalfont Wells.’ ‘I’ve an urgent message for a Mr. Smith who is a guest in your hotel. Could you put me through to him? I’m afraid I don’t know his room number.’
The response appears less than enthusiastic and a long, long silence follows. George inserts more coins. Then the voice informs him, ‘I’ve been trying to locate Mr. Smith but the hall porter reports having seen him leave about a minute ago.’
Breathing heavily, George replaces the receiver, just as the knocking on the door starts again.
The main intention of the passage is to provide ________.
从全篇文章内容来看，提到了使用时可能遇到的种种麻烦，并且举出了实例加以说明。文章一开 头就提出“Using the public telephone may well be one of the minor irritations of life”。由此可知本文的主要目的 证明使用公用电话时可能遇到的烦恼。故选D。
Which of the following calls are you unlikely to make at the ‘cheap rate’ referred to?
从文中可知，打“便宜价”电话是非常令人懊恼的，因为很难打出去，既费时又费力。对于一般性 的问题可能会打“便宜”电话，例如和朋友聊天，问候病人或表示节日祝贺等。但对于重大事情或者紧急事 情，人们就不会图“便宜”而耗掉自己的宝贵时间。故选A。
George can at least be thankful that ________.
文章提到电话亭设在来往汽车轰鸣吵杂的主干道交汇处，加上玻璃窗破损，给打电话的人造成了 很大的不便，显然不是一个合适和方便的位置。当乔治走进电话亭拿起一本电话簿，才发现不知谁把他需 要的那一页给撕掉了，他不得不拨打问询处。但是由于有人在外面不停地敲门，最后只好把所给的号码记 下来，因此他也就未能向旅馆中的接待员传达到他的口信。但是有一点是肯定的，电话本身并没有停止工 作，这起码能够给乔治一点点安慰。故选B。
Why does George have to dial a second time?
文章第四段第四句提到“At last he hears the burr-burr of the ringing tone, immediately followed by rapid pips demanding his money, but he is now so upset that he knocks down the coins he has placed ready on the top of the box.”。最后他听到电话铃音的嘎嘎声，马上接着是急速的报时信号，要他投币。但是由于他此刻 非常懊恼，把放在箱子上准备投进去的钱币弄掉了下来，因此，他不得不再找到那些钱币投入到箱子中 去，这也就是为什么他不得不再次拨号的原因。故选C。
What are George’s feelings when he completes his call?
文章最后一段提到“Breathing heavily, George replaces the receiver, just as the knocking on the door starts again.”，乔治重重地吸了一口气之后，把话筒放好，这时扣门声又响了。打电话中遇到了这么多不愉 快的事情，自然不会给乔治带来什么愉快和欣慰，这种烦恼的心情从“重重地吸了一口气”中表现出来。故 选A。