考研

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Women have been driving yellow cabs in New York since the 1940s, but 99% of drivers are male. Even among drivers of cars booked by phone or online, only 4% are women. That may change with the launch of SheTaxis, an app that lets female passengers insist on female drivers, and vice versa.

It will be available in New York City, Westchester and Long Island, and the firm plans to

expand to other cities. Stella Mateo, the founder, is betting that quite a few women are nervous and weary of getting into cars driven by men. The service may also appeal to those whose religious beliefs forbid them to travel with unrelated men. Each driver wears a pink pashmina. Men who ask for a ride will be directed to another car service.

Similar services thrive in India, South Africa and several Middle Eastern cities. Japan has had women-only railway carriages on and off since 1912. Known as hana densha (flower trains), they offer shelter from the gropers who make rush hour in Tokyo so disagreeable.

But SheTaxis faces two speed bumps. One is practical. Demand has been so great that the firm has had to decelerate its launch until it can recruit 500 drivers. The other obstacle is legal. By employing only female drivers, SheTaxis is obviously discriminating against men. Since anti-discrimination law is not always applied with common sense, that may be illegal. And there is no shortage of potential litigants. Yellow cabbies are furious at the growth of online taxi firms such as Uber. “It’s not hard to imagine a guy ... filing suit,” says Sylvia Law of New York University Law School. “SheTaxis’ defence would probably be that its drivers are all independent contractors.”

Because the firm caters only to women, it is discriminating against male customers, too. Is that legal? Angela Cornell of Cornell Law School thinks there could be a loophole. New York’s Human Rights Commission could make an exemption on the ground that SheTaxi offers a service that is in the public interest: women feel safer not getting into cars with strange men. Women-only colleges are allowed, so why not women-only cabs? The snag is that some men may also feel safer getting into cabs with female drivers. A study in 2010 found that 80% of crashes in New York City that kill

or seriously injure pedestrians involve male drivers. Women drivers are simply better.

26. We can learn from the first paragraph that SheTaxis _______.

[A] will increase women driving yellow cabs

[B] will change the market of booking taxis online

[C] allows female drivers to only choose female passengers

[D] lets male passengers insist on male drivers

27. It can be inferred that the service of SheTaxis may appeal to_______.

[A] women who are nervous about taxi drivers

[B] women with certain religious beliefs

[C] women who are tired of taking taxis

[D] men who ask for a ride

28. The word “gropers” (Para. 3) probably refers to_______.

[A] people who cause a traffic jam

[B] men who make sexual harassment to women

[C] men who cause the rush hour in Tokyo

[D] people who make taking trains disagreeable

29. If SheTaxis is accused of discriminating against men, it may_______.

[A] decelerate its launch as an online taxi firm

[B] employ both male and female drivers

[C] make anti-discrimination law not applicable

[D] spring to the defence of its drivers

30. SheTaxis may be exempt from illegality by New York ’s Human Rights Commission because_______.

[A] its service provided is based on the public interest

[B] it discriminates against male passengers

[C] it provides service also for male passengers

[D] it decreases crashes caused by male drivers

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