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The Only Way Is Up

Think of a modem city and the first image that come to mind is the skyline. It is full of great buildings, pointing like fingers to heaven. It is true that some cities don't permit buildings to go above a certain height. But these are cities concerned with the past. The first thing any city does when it wants to tell the world that it has arrived is to build skyscrapers.

When people gather together in cities, they create a demand for land. Since cities are places where money is made, that demand can be met. And the best way to make money out of city land is to put as many people as possible in a space that covers the smallest amount of ground. That means building upwards.

The technology existed to do this as early as the 19th century. But the height of buildings was limited by one important factor. They had to be small enough for people on the top floors to climb stairs. People could not be expected to climb a mountain at the end of their journey to work, or home.

Elisha Otis, a US inventor, was the man who brought us the lift-or elevator, as he preferred to call it. However, most of the technology is very old. Lifts work using the same pulley system the Egyptians used to create the Pyramids. What Otis did was attach the system to a steam engine and develop the elevator brake, which stops the lift falling if the cords that hold it up are broken. It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention. In fact, he spent a number of years exhibiting lifts at fairgrounds, giving people the chance to try them out before selling the idea to architects and builders.

A lift would not be a very good theme park attraction now. Going in a lift is such an everyday thing that it would just be boring. Yet psychologists and others who study human behavior find lifts fascinating. The reason is simple. Scientists have always studied animals in zoos. The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts.

"It breaks all the usual conventions about the bubble of personal space we carry around with us -- and you just can't choose to move away," says workplace psychologist, Gary Fitzgibbon. Being trapped in this setting can create different types of tensions, he says. Some people are scared of them. Others use them as an opportunity to get close to the boss. Some stand close to the door. Others hide in the comers. Most people try and shrink into the background. But some behave in a way that makes others notice them. There are a few people who just stand in a comer taking notes.

Don't worry about them. They are probably from a university.

詞匯：

skyline：空中輪廓線 tension 緊張

pulley 滑輪 bubble 幻想；妄想

fairground 集市場地

注釋：

1.It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention.：正是這項技術贏得了人們對新發明的信心。本句使用了強調句型It is …that…被強調的是this，所指代的是上文中所說的Otis發明了電梯剎車的事。

2.The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts.：對于研究人類來說，最接近的方式就是在電梯里觀察他們。句中that指的是上一句中提到的科學家一直對動物園的動物進行觀察。

3.about the bubble of personal space：有關私人空間的幻想。

練習：

1. "...these are cities concerned with the past" in the first paragraph refer to cities that

A) are worried about their past.

B) have a glorious past to be proud of.

C) want to maintain their traditional image.

D) are very interested in their own history.

2. The difficulty in constructing tall buildings in the 19th century lies in

A) the shortage of money.

B) the lack of a device to carry people upward.

C) backward technology.

D) mountains taking up land space.

3. When Otis came up with the idea of a lift,

A) he sold it to the architects and builders immediately

B) the Egyptians used it to build the Pyramids.

C) it was accepted favorably by the public.

D) most people had doubt about its safety.

4 Which of the following best describes the experience of going in a lift now?

A) Fascinating.

B) Uninteresting.

C) Frightening.

D) Exciting.

5. Psychologists find the lift a good place where they can study human behaviour because

A) here humans behave the way animals do.

B) people in a lift are all scared.

C) here some people take notes.

D) in a lift the bubble of personal space breaks.

答案與題解：

1.C be concerned with是“關心；關注”的意思，故可排除B和D兩個選項，根據前面一句話，these cities是指那些不允許建筑物超出一定高度地城市，即不愿意改變固有形象的城市。

2.B 文中第三段說早在19世紀建造高樓的技術已經存在，限制樓高的因素只有一個，即人們下班后不想像爬山那樣去爬樓梯，說明當時還沒有找到把人往高處送的辦法。

3.D 答案在第四段，Otis發明的剎車使人們對這個新玩意兒增強了信心，他在游樂場里讓大家試乘了幾年才把這個想法出售給建筑師和運營商。

4.B 現在電梯已經十分普遍，沒有人會覺得乘電梯是件好玩的事。

5.D 電梯的空間狹小，相對擁擠，人們想要享有私人空間的要求在這里成了幻想，就如同關在動物園籠子里的動物一般，這位心理學家提供了一個研究在這種情況下人的行為難得的機會。

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