You run into the grocery store to pick up one bottle of water.

你跑進(jìn)雜貨店買(mǎi)一瓶水。

You get what you need, head to the front, and choose the line that looks fastest.

你拿到你需要的東西，走到前面，選擇看起來(lái)最快的隊(duì)伍。

You chose wrong.?你選擇錯(cuò)了。

People who you swear got in other lines long after you are already checked out and off to the parking lot.

在你退房去停車場(chǎng)之后，你還咒罵了排了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的隊(duì)的人。

___11___It turns out, it's just math working against you;

事實(shí)證明，這只是你不擅長(zhǎng)數(shù)學(xué)

chances are, the other line really is faster.

很有可能，另一條隊(duì)伍確實(shí)更快。

Grocery stores try to have enough employees at checkout to get all their customers through with minimum delay.

雜貨店試圖在收銀臺(tái)有足夠的員工，以最小的延遲讓所有顧客通過(guò)。

___12___Any small interruption - a price check, a chatty customer-can have downstream effects, holding up an entire line.

任何一個(gè)小的中斷——一個(gè)價(jià)格檢查，一個(gè)喋喋不休的客戶，都可能造成下游的影響，阻礙整條隊(duì)伍的順利通過(guò)。

If there are three lines in the store, delays will happen randomly at different registers.

如果商店中有三行排隊(duì)的隊(duì)伍，延遲將在不同的收銀臺(tái)中隨機(jī)發(fā)生。

Think about the probability:____13____So it's not just in your mind: Another line probably is moving faster.

想想這個(gè)概率:_? ?所以這不只是你的想法:另一個(gè)隊(duì)伍可能移動(dòng)得更快。

Researchers have a good way to deal with this problem.

研究人員有一個(gè)很好的方法來(lái)處理這個(gè)問(wèn)題。

Make all customers stand in one long, snaking line- called a serpentine line - and serve each person at the front with the next available register.

讓所有的顧客排成蜿蜒的長(zhǎng)隊(duì)，用下一個(gè)可用的收銀臺(tái)為前面的每個(gè)人服務(wù)。

___14___This is what they do at most banks and fast-food restaurants.

這是他們?cè)诖蠖鄶?shù)銀行和快餐店做的事。?With a serpentine line, a long delay at one register won't unfairly punish the people who lined up behind it.

在蜿蜒的隊(duì)伍中，在一個(gè)登記處長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的延遲不會(huì)對(duì)排在后面的人造成不公平的懲罰。?Instead, it will slow down everyone a little bit but speed up checkout overall.

相反地，它會(huì)減慢每個(gè)人的速度，但卻加快了整體的結(jié)賬速度。

____15____It takes many registers to keep one line moving quickly, and some stores can't afford the space or manpower.

? ? ? 它需要許多收銀臺(tái)，為了保持一個(gè)排隊(duì)隊(duì)伍快速結(jié)賬離開(kāi)，并且一些商店負(fù)擔(dān)不起空間或人力。

So wherever your next wait may be: Good luck.

所以無(wú)論你下次等待的是什么地方:祝你好運(yùn)。

A. Why does this always seem to happen to you?

為什么這種事總是發(fā)生在你身上?

B. So why don't most places encourage serpentine lines?

所以為什么大多數(shù)地方不鼓勵(lì)蜿蜒的排隊(duì)呢?

C. Some of the may have stood in a queue for almost an hour.

有些人可能已經(jīng)排了將近一個(gè)小時(shí)的隊(duì)。

D The chances of your line being the fastest are only one in three.

你的隊(duì)伍最快的機(jī)會(huì)只有三分之一。

E. How high is the probability that you are in the fastest waiting line?

在排隊(duì)隊(duì)伍中，你所在的隊(duì)伍，最快的概率有多高?

F. With three registers, this method is much faster than the traditional approach.

用三個(gè)收銀臺(tái)，這個(gè)方法比傳統(tǒng)方法快得多。

G. But sometimes, as on a Sunday afternoon, the system gets particularly busy.

但有時(shí)，比如星期天下午，系統(tǒng)會(huì)特別繁忙。

【答案】11. A 12. G 13. D 14. F 15. B

【分析】本文是說(shuō)明文。文章說(shuō)明了雜貨店排隊(duì)方式以及研究人員提出的蛇形隊(duì)伍的新方式，并分析了各自的利弊。

【11題詳解】

下文“It turns out, it's just math working against you; chances are, the other line really is faster. (原來(lái)，這只是你的數(shù)學(xué)問(wèn)題；很可能，另一個(gè)隊(duì)伍真的更快。)”解釋了上文“You chose wrong.(你選錯(cuò)了)”的原因，下文與空格處是因果關(guān)系，所以本空應(yīng)該是對(duì)前文選錯(cuò)提出疑惑，故選A項(xiàng)。

【12題詳解】

上文“Grocery stores try to have enough employees at checkout to get all their customers through with minimum delay.(雜貨店盡量讓足夠的員工在結(jié)賬時(shí)讓所有的顧客以最小的延誤完成結(jié)賬。)”解釋了雜貨店之前的工作模式，下文“Any small interruption a price check, a chatty customer -can have downstream effects, holding up an entire line.(任何一個(gè)小小的中斷，一個(gè)價(jià)格檢查，一個(gè)喋喋不休的顧客，都會(huì)產(chǎn)生下游效應(yīng)，拖住整個(gè)排隊(duì)的隊(duì)伍。)”描述了雜貨店的特殊情況，故本空應(yīng)該填出現(xiàn)特殊情況的原因，故選G項(xiàng)。

【13題詳解】

根據(jù)上文“If there are three lines in the store, delays will happen randomly at different registers. (如果雜貨店中有三列隊(duì)伍，延遲將在不同的隊(duì)伍中隨機(jī)發(fā)生。)”聯(lián)系下文“So it's not just in your mind: Another line probably is moving faster.(所以這不僅僅是在你的腦海里：另一條隊(duì)伍可能移動(dòng)得更快。)”可知本空說(shuō)的是任何一個(gè)隊(duì)伍都有可能出現(xiàn)問(wèn)題。你的隊(duì)伍跑得最快的幾率只有三分之一。故選D項(xiàng)。

【14題詳解】

根據(jù)“上文Researchers have a good way to deal with this problem.(我們得知研究人員有一個(gè)很好的方法來(lái)處理這個(gè)問(wèn)題)”以及下文“This is what they do at most banks and fast-food restaurants. With a serpentine line, a long delay at one register won't unfairly punish the people who lined up behind it. Instead, it will slow down everyone little bit but speed up checkout overall.(這個(gè)大多數(shù)銀行和快餐店都是這樣做的。有了一條蜿蜒的隊(duì)伍，在一個(gè)登記處長(zhǎng)時(shí)間拖延不會(huì)不公平地懲罰后面排隊(duì)的人。相反，它會(huì)減慢每個(gè)人一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)，但加快了整體結(jié)帳速度。)”說(shuō)明這個(gè)新方案迅速有效，聯(lián)系上下文可知，空格中應(yīng)該是與舊的結(jié)賬方案作比較。故選F項(xiàng)。

【15題詳解】

結(jié)合下文“It takes many registers to keep one line moving quickly, and some stores can't afford the space or manpower.(要保持一條生產(chǎn)線的快速運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，需要很多的收銀機(jī)，而且有些商店負(fù)擔(dān)不起空間和人力。)”說(shuō)明了一個(gè)原因，由此可知，空格處提出了一個(gè)問(wèn)題；通過(guò)“It takes many registers to keep one line moving quickly.(保持一條生產(chǎn)線的快速運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn))”可知這里描述的是不鼓勵(lì)蛇形隊(duì)伍的原因。故選B項(xiàng)。