Nowadays, a cellphone service is available to everyone, everywhere. Probably thousands of people have already been using it, but I just discovered it, so I'm going to claim it and also name it: Fake Foning.
The technology has been working well for me at the office, but there are infinite(无限的） applications. Virtually in any public space.
Say you work at a big university with lots of talky faculty members buzzing about. Now, say you need to use the restroom. The trip down the hall will take approximately one hour, because a person can't walk into those talky people without getting pulled aside for a question, a bit of gossip, a new read on a certain line of Paradise Lost.
So, a cellphone. Any cellphone. Just pick it up. Don't dial. Just hold that phone to your face and start talking. Walk confidently down the hall engaged in fake conversation, making sure to tailor both the topic and content to the person standing before you whom you are trying to avoid.
For standard colleague avoidance, I suggest fake chatting about fake business:
"Yes, I'm glad you called, because we really need to hammer out the details. What's that? Yes, I read Page 12, but if you look at the bottom of 4, I think you can see the problem begins right there."
Be engaged in your fake fone conversation. Make eye contact with the people passing, nod to them, gesture keen interest in talking to them at a later time, point to your phone, shrug and move on.
Shoppers should consider fake foning anytime they spot a talky neighbor in the produce department pinching (用手捏) unripe peaches. Without your phone at your face, you'd be in for a 20-minute speech on how terrible the world is.
One important caution about fake foning. The other day I was fake foning my way past a colleague, and he was actually following me to get my attention. I knew he wanted to ask about a project I had not yet finished. I was trying to buy myself some time, so I continued fake foning with my doctor. "So I don't need the operation? Oh, doctor, that is the best news."
And then: Brrrrrrng! Brrrrrmg! Brrrrrmg! My phone started ringing, right there while it was planted on my face. My colleague looked at me, and I at him, and naturally I gasped. "What is the matter with this thing?" I said, pulling the phone away to look at it, and then putting it back to my ear.
"Hello? Are you still there?"  Oops.
【小题1】According to the passage Fake Foning is _______________________.

A．a strategy to avoid people	B．a device newly produced
C．a service provided everywhere	D．a skill of communication

【小题2】In the author's opinion, in order to make fake foning look real one has to__________________.

A．talk about interesting matters	B．behave politely to people passing by
C．hold the phone while walking	D．appear absorbed in conversation

【小题3】What does the last example show?

A．One effective way is to fake fone one's doctor.

B．One has to be careful while fake foning.

C．Fake foning may not cheat people.

D．Fake foning is always quite successful.

【小题4】After his phone suddenly began ringing, the author___________________.

A．immediately started talking to the caller

B．immediately started talking to his colleague

C．put the phone away and stopped talking

D．continued with his fake conversation

【小题5】What is the tone of the passage?

A．Critical.

B．Humorous.

C．Serious.

D．Unclear.

【2011·甘肃白银平川学校模拟】

A

Recently my wife and I, along with a travel companion, were in the tiny town of Battambang in the central Cambodia. We hired a guide to take us up the river to our next destination at Siem Reap. This was to a six-hour trip followed by crossing Lake Sap, the largest lake in central Asia. Battambang is an extremely poor area, and our means of transportation was a very small, old boat not much larger than the three of us. With six bags tied to the front part of the boat, three travelers, and the boatman, I figured we were overloaded by at least a ton. We frequently had seen four or five people on a single motorbike, so no one but us was concerned about our weight. We had been on the water only a few minutes when our pilot made for shore and jumped from our boat to another. Our guide said not to worry; he would only be a minute. He added, “We need to pick up live chickens for their legs.” My wife and I exchanged glances. We are pretty open-minded, especially when traveling in a third-world country. It was obviously there was little room in our tiny vessel for chickens. If we had to take them along, we were willing to hold them on our legs—there was no place else to put them. The thought even occurred to me that perhaps the chickens were needed if the boat’s tiny engine stopped in the middle of nowhere. I had a vision of us holding them over the side of the boat while their tiny legs paddled away, guiding us to safety. After all, our guide had said we needed them for their legs. We continued to make many jokes about live chickens drawing us to shore if the boat turned over and we were about eating them if we were left on a wild island. Meanwhile our guide just gave us a puzzled look. Finally my wife turned to him and asked, “How many chickens are we taking?” At first he seemed totally surprised, and then a large smile spread over his face. He bent over and began to laugh uncontrollably. My wife turned to me and said, “I’m glad he finds the thought of us holding chickens on our legs for six hours so funny.” When he finished laughing, he looked at us and pronounced every word clearly and loudly, “No live chickens! I said, ‘We need life jackets for the lake!’” It took a moment  for this to sink in, and then we all had a good laugh.

Whenever we made eye contact, our guide would laugh, shake his head and say: “Americans, so funny.”

41. The funny story happened ___________.

A. in the tiny town of Battambang

B. on a motorbike

C. on a small and old boat

D. on a wild island

42. The pilot left their boat to ___________.

A. pick live chickens

B. pick up life jackets

C. make room for live chickens

D. make the boat weigh less

43. Which of the following events truly happened?

A. The couple held the chickens on their legs

B. The chickens’ legs paddled the boat guiding them to safety

C. They ate the chickens while they were left on the wild island

D. They made many jokes about live chickens

44. The guide bent over and laughed uncontrollably because ___________.

A. he suddenly knew what the misunderstanding was

B. he found their thought of holding chickens on their legs funny

C. he thought the American couple were funny

D. they landed safely