London Cabbies
Every city in the world has taxi to take tourists to interesting places. London is the only city in the world where taking a taxi is an ____1____ experience for tourists. This is partly because of the special black cabs, which are found in no other country. But it is also because of the drivers themselves. _____2_____British people are famous for being polite and reserved, London cabbies are well known _____3_____their willingness to talk.
Some customers say that once the door shuts and the cab _____4____ off they are a captive audience. It is impossible to get the taxi driver to stop _____5_____ “They’re self-confident and free thinking,” said Malcolm Linskey, the author of a history of taxi drivers in London.
They are also expensive. London has the most expensive taxis of any city in the world except Tokyo. That’s why Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, is planning to make taxi drivers negotiate their fares with ______6______ before they take a ride.
Drivers agree that their fairs are expensive. That’s because their black taxis ____7____ more than other cars, they say. And the customer is also paying for a more driving expertise than anywhere else in the world.
Before someone can qualify as a London taxi driver, that person has to pass a test ____8_____ simply as “The Knowledge”. This involves _____9_____ the name and location of every street within six miles of a point in the exact centre of London. The trainee must also learn the exact location of every important building within these streets. Finally he or she must be able to use this knowledge to work out the _____10______ distance between any two destinations within this area.
It can ____11_____up to three years to pass “The Knowledge”.2 Every day it is possible to see trainee taxi drivers on the streets of London, taking careful notes of popular destinations before tracing the route to their next stop. Cab driving is a job often _____12____ down in families. Many taxi drivers take their children out in their spare time to memorize _____13_____ they need to know when it is their turn to “do The Knowledge”.
The effect of this is to make London cabbies experts at their job. They also have bigger brains. Recent research found that the part of the brain that remembers things was larger and more ____14_____ in cab drivers. They have to fit the whole of London into their heads, so their brains grow bigger. So perhaps it is not ____15______ that taxi drivers have lots to day.
1. A. rewarding B. interesting C. happy D. delightful
2. A. Before B. After C. When D. While
3. A. for B. as C. of D. at
4. A. departs B. leaves C. moves D. takes
5. A. arguing B. saying C. telling D. talking
6. A. customers B. hosts C. guests D. bosses
7. A. buy B. cost C. sell D. consume
8. A. called B. entitled C. known D. understood
9. A. to memorize B. memorize C. memorized D. memorizing
10. A. shortest B. shorter C. shortened D. short
11. A. spend B. take C. give D. occupy
12. A. inherited B. sent C. handed D. given
13. A. roads B. routes C. streets D. lanes
14. A. constructed B. concentrated C. devoted D. developed
15. A. surprising B. wondering C. doubting D. suspecting