For a commuter rushing to catch a train, a minute can mean the difference between dinner with the family and leftovers (剩饭) in the microwave. What most passengers don’t realize is that their minute is already there.
Every commuter train that departs from New York City — about 900 a day — leaves a minute later than scheduled. If the timetable says 8:14, the train will actually leave at 8:15. In other words, if you think you have only a minute to get that train — well, relax. You have two.
The courtesy (礼貌) minute, in place for decades and published only in private timetables for employees, is meant as a grace period（宽限期）for those who need the extra time to get off the platform and onto the train.
“If everyone knows they get an extra minute, they’re going to waste time doing unimportant things,” explained Marjorie Anders, a spokeswoman for the Metro-North Railroad. Told of this article, Ms. Anders laughed. “Don’t blow our cover!” she said.
Entirely hidden from the riding public, the secret minute is an odd departure from the railroad culture of down-to-the-second accuracy. The railroad industry helped invent the concept of standard time, and time zones were established in the United States in the 1880s, 35 years before they were written into law. And most commuters know their train by the precise minute it departs. The trains quickly make up the minute: at all other stops, the public timetable prevails. The phantom minute does not exist at commuter railroads in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, or San Francisco. But in New York, the secret minute dates back decades.
“That’s been done forever, from my knowledge,” said Jack Swanberg, 70, an unofficial historian of Metro-North. “I was the trainmaster starting in 1970 and I’m sure it’s been the case since 1870 for all I know.”
小题1:The courtesy minute was hidden from the public to _____.
A．prevent the passengers’ idleness
B．help invent the concept of standard time
C．show the railroad company’s consideration
D．follow the ancient tradition of New York City小题2: The underlined part “Don’t blow our cover” in Para. 4 probably means “_____”.
A．Don’t publish the timetable
B．Don’t blame commuter trains
C．Don’t make it known by the public
D．Don’t forget our chances of catching trains小题3:What can we conclude from the passage?
A．The courtesy minute exists in many cities in the US.
B．One minute means a lot for most of the commuters.
C．The courtesy minute has been in place for about ten years.
D．Most railroad staff in New York have no idea of the courtesy minute.小题4: The passage mainly talks about _____.
A．the railroads in the US
B．the secret New York minute
C．the mistake of the railroad industry
D．the history of New York commuter trains
