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Passage One It was midnight in Paris and we were rolling toward the Avenue Bosguet. As we came to the Pont Alexandre Ⅲ, the cab slowed down, for the traffic light was red against, and then, without stopping, we sailed through the red light in a sudden burst of speed. The same performance was repeated at the Alma Bridge. As I paid the driver,I asked him why he had driven through two red lights. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, a veteran like you, breaking the law and endangering your life that way," I protested. He looked at me astonished.“Ashamed of myself? I am a law-abiding citizen and have no desire to get killed either." He cut me off before I could protest. “No, just listen to me before you complain. What did I do? Went through a red light. Well, did you ever stop to consider what a red light is, what it means?" "Certainly," I replied.“It.s a stop signal and means that traffic is rolling in the opposite direction.” “Half-right," said the driver,“but incomplete. It is only an automatic stop signal. And it does not mean that there is cross traffic. Did you see any cross traffic duringour trip? Of course not. I slowed own at the light, looked carefully to the right and to the left. Not another car on the streets at this hour. Well, then! What would you have me do? Should I stop like a dumb animal because an automatic, brainless machine turns red every forty seconds? No, monsieur," he thundered, hitting the door with a huge first. “I am a man, not a machine. I have eyes and a brain and judgment, given me by God. It would be a sin against nature to surrender them to the dictates of a machine. Ashamed of myself, you say? I would only be ashamed of myself if I let those blinking lamps do my thinking for me. Good night, monsieur." Is this bad, is this good? Frankly I no longer am sure. I never doubted that it was wrong to drive through a relight, but now I find my old Anglo-Saxon standards somewhat shaken. 24.At the Alma Bridge, A. the writer stopped the cab an paid the driver B. the cab went through a red light again C. there was a performance the writer had already watched D. the writer began to criticize the driver 25. To the cab driver, a red light A. was not a stop signal B. should not work at midnight C. sometimes made mistakes in judgment D. didn.t always mean that there was cross traffic 26. The chief reason the driver dared to drive through the red light was that A. he found there was no cross traffic there and then B. he thought it a shame to be controlled by a machine C. he knew no other driver would see him at this hour D. he didn.t trust any brainless machine 27. According to the passage, the driver thought of what he had done as A. law-abiding B. law-breaking C. something to be proud ofD. something to be ashamed of 28. The last sentence shows that the writer is probably A. an old man B. a Frenchman C. an Englishman D. an American
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