III. 阅读理解（16分）

Every city in the world has taxis to take tourists to interesting places. London is the only city in the world where taking a taxi is an interesting experience for tourists. This is partly because of the special black cabs（出租车）, which are found in no other country. But it is also because of the drivers themselves. While British people are famous for being polite and reserved, London taxi drivers are well known of their willingness to talk.

Some customers say that once the door shuts and the cab moves off they are captive audience. It is impossible to get the taxi drivers to stop talking.

“They’re self-confident and free thinking,” says Malcolm Linskey, the author of a history of taxi drivers in London. “They answer to nobody but themselves and that comes across in their conversation.”

They are also expensive. London has the most expensive taxis of any city in the world except Tokyo. That’s why Ken Living-stone, the mayor of London, is planning to make taxi drivers discuss their fares with customers before they take a ride.

Drivers agree that their fares are expensive. That’s because their black taxis cost more than other cars, they say. And the customer is also paying for a more driving expertise than anywhere else in the world.

Before someone can qualify as a London taxi driver, that person has to pass a test known as “The Knowledge”. This involves memorizing the name and location of every street within six miles of a point in the exact center of London. The trainee must also learn the exact location of every important building within these streets. Finally he or she must be able to use this knowledge to work out the shortest distance between any two destinations within this area.

It can take up the three years to pass “The knowledge”. Every day it is possible to see trainee taxi drivers on the streets of London, taking careful notes of popular destinations before finding the route to their next stop. Cab driving is a job often handed down in families. Many taxi drivers take their children out in their spare time to memorize routes they will need to know when it is their turn to do “The Knowledge”.

The effect of this is to make London taxi drivers experts at their job. They also have bigger brains. Recent research by scientists at the Institute of Neurology in London found that the hippocampus—the part of the brain that remembers things—was larger and more developed in cab drivers. They have to fit the whole of London into their heads, so their brains grow bigger.

1．Taking a taxi in London is an interesting experience for tourists because of the following statements except that _______.

A．the special black cabs can’t be found in other countries

B．the drivers are polite and reserved

C．the drivers are talkative

D．the drivers are self-confident and free thinking

2．Taking a taxi in London is very expensive because _________.

A．the drivers answer to nobody but themselves

B．the drivers can discuss their fares with customers before the ride

C．the drivers are the most qualified

D．the black cabs are the safest

3．It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A．London has the most expensive taxis in the world

B．“The Knowledge”is a test that can be done easily

C．trainee taxi drivers are not often seen on the streets

D．many taxi drivers tend to make their children taxi drivers

4．London cab drivers have bigger brains because _______

A．they are experts at their job

B．they have many streets and routes in their minds

C．their hippocampus is larger and more developed

D．their heads are bigger