四、Waiting in Line

　　The British queue up and the Americans wait in line, except for New Yorkers, who wait on line. No one seems to know the reason for this local idiom. It is something to ponder while waiting in/on line.

　　Another thing to ponder: It is estimated that Americans spednd up to five years of their lives in that tedious, weary but unavoidable process known as waiting. Studies show that otherwise rational people act irrationally when forced to stand in line or wait in crowds, even becoming violent.

　　Queues are a grim reality of city life. While there seems to be no consensus onthe city's worst line, the ones mentioned most often in talks here and there were lunchtime lines at banks and post offices and, among younger people, movie lines and college-registration lines.

　　Bank lines, said Mark Sloane, an investor. No matter what time of day you bank, the number of tellers is inadequate to the number of patrons. Even when the bank is open you see long lines infront of the money machines outside.

　　Supermarkets, said Ed Frantz, a graphic artist, who once abandoned a full shopping cart in the middle of a long checkout line. It was not a political act. The line was filled with coupon clippers and check writers, he recalled. And suddenly I had to walk away. Food no longer mattered.

　　In any line the fundamental rule is first come, first served, or what dsocial scientists call distributive justice. Exceptions may be made, say, in fancy restaurants where the headwaiters have their favorites, but, in general, the rule prevails.

　　If misery loves company, so do sports fans. Dr. Leon Mann documented this several years ago when, as a Harvard professor, he studied the long overnight queues for tickets to ball games in his native Australia.

　　Outside the stadium something of a carnival atmosphere prevails, he wrote in The American Journal of Sociology. The devotees sing, sip warm drinks, play cards and huddle together.

　　Like the teams they had come to watch, the fans in line took timeouts. Some worked in shifts, with certain members leaving to take naps or eat meals, while others saved their places in line. Some staked claims in line with items of personal property such as sleeping bags and folding chairs. During the early hours of waiting, Dr. Mann noted, the queues often consisted of one part people to two parts inanimate objects.

　　Nobody has ever seriously studied Helen Quinn's Saturday morning line for Metropolitan Opera tickets, but perhaps someone should ——Miss Quinn is not an official at the Met.

　　For 15 years standees at the opera have been doing just that, thanks to Miss Quin's ticketing system. She makes, dates and numbers her tickets—— one for each of the 175 standing room spots available—— and dispenses them to early birds. Assured of a place, ticket holders then leave and return shortly before 8 A.M. to line up for the real tickets.

　　idiom n. 1.習(xí)語，成語 2.風(fēng)格，特色

　　ponder v. 思索，考慮，沉思

　　[聯(lián)想詞]

　　contemplate vt. 1.盤算，計議 2.思量，周密考慮 3.注視，凝視

　　weary a. 1.疲勞的，疲倦的 2.使疲勞的，令人厭倦的 vi.厭倦的，不耐煩

　　[聯(lián)想詞]

　　tiresome a.令人疲勞的，令人厭倦的

　　grim a. 1.討厭的，糟糕的 2.嚴(yán)厲的 3.嚴(yán)酷的，無情的

　　consensus n. [單]（意見等）一致，一致同意

　　patron n. 1.資助人，贊助人 2.老主顧，顧客

　　resent vt. 對……表示忿恨，怨恨

　　graphic a. 1.生動的，形象的 2.繪畫的，文字的，圖表的

　　coupon n. 1.禮券，優(yōu)惠券 2.配券，票證

　　clip n. 1.夾子，回形針，別針 2.彈夾，彈倉 3.剪，修剪 4.剪報，電影片斷 vt.（clipped；clipping） 1.夾住，扣住 2.剪，修剪 3.削減，縮短

　　[聯(lián)想詞]

　　clamp n.夾頭，夾具，夾鉗 vt.（用夾具等）夾緊，固定

　　prevail vi. 1.流行，盛行 2.獲勝，占優(yōu)勢 3.說明，勸說，誘使

　　prevalent a.流稈的，普遍的

　　misery n. 1.痛苦，苦惱，苦難 2.悲慘的境遇，貧苦

　　carnival n. 1.表演會 2.慶祝，歡宴 3.狂歡節(jié)

　　[聯(lián)想詞]

　　feast n. 1.盛宴，筵席 2.節(jié)日

　　sociology n. 社會學(xué)

　　sip v.（sipped，sippig）小口地喝，抿，呷 n. 小口喝

　　huddle vi. 1.聚集在一起 2.把身子蜷成一團(tuán) vt.使聚集在一起 n.擠在一起的人，一堆雜亂的東西

　　inanimate a. 1.無生命的，非動物的 2.無生氣的，單調(diào)的

　　metropolitan a.大城市的，大都會的

　　dispense vt. 1.分配，分發(fā) 2.配（藥），發(fā)（藥） 3.實施，執(zhí)行

　　[聯(lián)想詞]

　　disperse vi. 1.分散，散開 2.消散，消失 vt. 1.使分散，趕散 2.使消散，驅(qū)散