I have had just about enough of being treated like a second-class citizen, simply because I happen to be that put-upon member of society—a customer. The more I go into shops and hotels, banks and post offices, railway stations, airports and the like, the more I'm convinced that things are being run solely to suit the firm, the system, or the union. There seems to be a harmful new motto (格言) for so-called "service" organizations—Staff Before Service.

　　How often, for example, have you queued for what seems like hours at the Post Office or the supermarket because there weren't enough staff on duty to man all the service grilles (柵門) of checkout counters? Surely in these days of high unemployment it must be possible to recruit cashiers and counter staff. Yet supermarkets, hinting darkly at higher prices, claim that enshrouding all their cash registers at any one time would increase overheads. And the Post Office says we cannot expect all their service grilles to be occupied "at times when demand is low. "

　　It's the same with hotels. Because waiters and kitchen staff must finish when it suits them, dining rooms close earlier or menu choice is curtailed. As for us guests, we just have to put up with it. There's also the nonsense of so many so friendly hotel night porters having been dismissed in the interests of "efficiency" (i. e. profits) and replaced by coin guzzling machines. Not to mention the coldness of the tea-making kit in your room: a kettle with an assortment of teabags, plastic milk cartons and lump sugar. Who wants to wake up to a raw teabag? I don't, especially when I am paying for "service".

　　21. The writer feels that nowadays a customer is_______.

　　A. one who is well served B. unworthy of proper consideration

　　C. classified by society as inferior D. the victim of modern service

　　22. In the writer's opinion, the quality of service is changing because_______.

　　A. the customer's demands have changed

　　B. the organizations receive more consideration than the customers

　　C. the customers' needs have increased

　　D. the staff are less considerate than their employers

　　23. According to the writer, long queues at counters are caused by ____.

　　A. difficulties in recruiting staff B. inadequate staffing arrangements

　　C. staff being made lazy D. lack of co-operation between the staff

　　24. Service organizations claim that keeping the checkout counters manned would result in

　　A. a rise in the price for providing services

　　B. demands by cashiers for more money

　　C. insignificant benefits for the customers

　　D. the need to purchase expensive equipment

　　25. The disappearance of old-style hotel porters can be attributed to the fact that______.

　　A. few people are willing to do this type of work

　　B. machines are more reliable than human beings

　　C. the personal touch is less appreciated nowadays

　　D. automation has provided cheaper alternatives

　　21. D 22. B 23. B 24. A 25. D

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