英语四级阅读模拟实战 45

45

When Thomas Keller, one of America's foremost chefs, announced that on Sept. 1 he would abolish the practice of tipping at Per Se, his luxury restaurant in New York City, and replace it with European-style service charge, I knew three groups would be opposed: customers, servers and restaurant owners. These three groups are all committed to tipping as they quickly made clear on Web sites. To oppose tipping, it seems, is to be anticapitalist, and maybe even a little French.

But Mr. Keller is right to move away from tipping—and it's worth exploring why just about everyone else in the restaurant world is wrong to stick with the practice.

Customers believe in tipping because they think it makes economic sense. "Waiters know that they won't get paid if they don't do a good job" is how most advocates of the system would put it. To be sure, this is a tempting, apparently rational statement about economic theory, but it appears to have little applicability to the real world of restaurants.

Michael Lynn, an associate professor of consumer behavior and marketing at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, has conducted dozens of studies of tipping and has concluded that consumers' assessments of the quality of service correlate weakly to the amount they tip.

Rather, customers are likely to tip more in response to servers touching them lightly and leaning forward next to the table to make conversation than to how often their water glass is refilled. In the words, customers tip more when they like the server, not when the service is good. Mr. Lynn's studies also indicate that male customers increase their tips for female servers while female customers increase their tips for male servers.

What's more, consumers seem to forget that the tip increases as the bill increases. Thus, the tipping system is an open invitation to what restaurant professionals call "upwelling": every bottle of imported water, every espresso and every cocktail is extra money in the server's pocket. Aggressive upwelling for tips is often rewarded while low-key, quality service often goes unrecognized.

In addition, the practice of tip poling, which is the norm in fine-dining restaurants and is becoming more in every kind of restaurant above the level of a greasy spoon, has ruined whatever effect voting with your tip might have had on an individual waiter In an unreasonable outcome, you are punishing the good waiters in the restaurant by not tipping the bad one. indeed, there appear to be little connection between tipping and good service.

1.It may be inferred that a European-style service_______.

A.is tipping-free　　　　　B.charges little tip

C.is the author's initiative　　D.is offered at Per Se

2.Which of the following is NOT true according to the author?

A.Tipping is a common practice in the restaurant world.

B.Waiters don't care about tipping.

C.Customers generally believe in tipping.

D.Tipping has little connection with the quality of service.

3.According to Michael Lynn's studies, waiters will likely get more tips if they_______.

A.have performed good service　B.frequently refill customers' water glass

C.win customers favor　　　　D.serve customers of the same sex

4.We may infer from the context that "upwelling" (Line 2, Para. 6) probably means_______.

A.selling something up　　　　B.selling something fancy

C.selling something unnecessary　D.selling something more expensive

5.This passage is mainly about_______.

A.reasons to abolish the practice of tipping　B.economic sense of tipping

C.consumer's attitudes towards tipping　　D.tipping for good service