Unit 18

　　Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension

　　(35 minutes)

　　Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage One

　　Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.

　　Like most people, I've long understood that I will be judged by my occupation, that my profession is a gauge people use to see how smart or talented I am. Recently. however, I was disappointed to see that I'm treated as a person.

　　Last year I left a professional position as a small-town reporter and took a job waiting tables. As someone paid to serve food to people, I had customers say and do things to me I suspect they'd never say or do to their most casual acquaintances. One night a man talking on his cell phone waved me away, then beckoned(示意) me back with his finger a minute later, complaining he was ready to order and asking where I'd been.

　　I had waited tables during summers in college and was treated like a peon(勤雜工) by plenty of people. But at 19 years old, I believed I deserved inferior treatment from professional adults. Besides, people responded to me differently after I told them I was in college. Customers would joke that one day I'd be sitting at their table, waiting to be served.

　　Once I graduated I took a job at a community newspaper. From my first day, I heard a respectful tone from every one who called me. I assumed this was the way the professional world worked—cordially.

　　I soon found out differently. I saw several feet away from an advertising sales representative with a similar name. Our calls would often get mixed up and someone asking for Kristen would be transferred to Christie. The mistakes was immediately evident. Perhaps it was because money was involved, but people used a tone with Kristen that they never used with me.

　　My job title made people treat me with courtesy. So it was a shock to return to the restaurant industry.

　　It’s no secret that there’s a lot to put up with when waiting tables, and fortunately, much of it can be easily forgotten when you pocket the tips. The service industry, by definition, exists to cater to others’ needs. Still, it seemed that many of my customers didn’t get the difference between server and servant.