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Most people will answer a ringing phone. Usually you don't know who is phoning or how urgent
their business is, so a ringing phone is difficult to ignore. In one experiment, a researcher wrote down
the numbers of several public phones in stations and airports. Then he called the numbers. Someone
nearly always answered. When he asked why, people usually said, "Because it rang."
A few years ago in New Jersey, a man with a rifle killed 13 people. Armed police surrounded his
house but he refused to come out. A reporter found out the phone number of the house and called.
The man put down his rifle and answered the phone. "What do you want?" he said, "I'm really busy
right now."
Imagine you're at work and the phone is ringing in someone else's office. Do you answer it or not?
In one survey on telephone use, 51% of participants told researches that they did. We can't ignore the
phone and for the reason, it forces its way into our lives. It interrupts what we are doing and on top of
that, the caller is often someone we don't really want to talk to. However, in the survey, 58% said they
never took the phone off the hook, and 67% didn't mind if someone called during a television programme. For 44% it wasn't a problem if someone rang during a meal, while only 28% were annoyed or upset.
If someone phoned in the middle of the night, 40% told researchers that they got nervous or frightened,
while around 30% got angry.
Of course, when someone is really annoying, you can choose to hang up on him/her. This is in fact
one of the rudest things you can do on the phone, but 79% said they were prepared to do it in some
cases. Only 6% told researchers they never hung up on people.
1. In the experiment, people answered the researcher's phone _______.
A. for fear that it was urgent
B. in order to help him gather the data
C. to test the function of the phone
D. to show their interest in the survey
2. The gunman answered the phone because _____.
A. he decided not to give up his resistance to the police
B. he tended to answer a ringing phone
C. he wanted to tell the reporter that he was too busy to offer any information
D. he intended to be friendly with the media
3. According to Para.3, most people _____ when they were doing their work or watching television.
A. minded the ringing of the phone
B. couldn't ignore the phone
C. refused to answer the phone in someone else's office
D. kept the phone ringing
4. What is implied by the sentence "79% said they were prepared to do it in some cases"(in the
last paragraph)?
A. They were annoyed by the rude callers.
B. They were prepared to punish those rude callers.
C. They were going to hang up on annoying phones.
D. They also agreed that it was a rude thing to hang up on others.
5. The purpose of the survey is to find out _____.
A. how the phone interrupts people's work
B. what role the phone plays in people's lives
C. why people mind a ringing phone sometimes
D. when the phone communication is more welcome
