課文內容

Vocabulary: Crowds 詞匯：群眾

How much empathy do you feel towards other people? If you saw someone fall off their bike in traffic, would you stop and help - or just walk away? Many people would give in to apathy, go about their business and just do nothing. So it was a big surprise when about 100 bystanders got together recently to move a bus in east London to help a cyclist trapped under it. A video of the incident went viral on social media.

According to Zoheb, a driver who stopped his car to take part in the rescue, about five people gathered to move the bus. He says: "There was no chance we could do it, it was more an invitation for other people to help, really."

The initiative paid off. Diners from nearby restaurants joined in. There wasn't much coordination but it didn't take long to develop a collective understanding of what the objective was.

Spontaneous collaboration among strangers doesn't happen often. People in a crowd are not sure what to do - they don't have a plan. It's one of the reasons bystanders often do nothing, according to Dr Mark Levine, professor of social psychology at Exeter University in Britain. "The presence of others can inhibit you from helping", he says.

The key to positive group behaviour and intervention, Levine explains, "is building a sense of shared identity". Action has to be decided quickly, Levine says. "The longer you leave it, the harder it is to make a decision. If you don't immediately act then you kind of think 'Well, actually I probably couldn't have done anything anyway'."

But the people who took the initiative like Zoheb might make a difference. The cyclist ended up in hospital and the images of the collective effort might inspire others to more acts of solidarity.

詞匯表

empathy ?感同身受、同情
to give in ?屈服，讓步
apathy ?冷漠
to go about your business ?去做自己的事
a bystander ?旁觀者
to trap ?陷入（出不來），困住
to go viral ?像病毒一樣迅速在網上傳播
to gather ?聚集
the initiative ?倡議，提議
coordination ?協調
collective ?集體的
spontaneous ?自發的
collaboration ?合作
social psychology ?社會心理學
to inhibit ?抑制
intervention ?介入，干涉
solidarity ?團結

測驗與練習

1. 閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. How were the images of the rescue distributed?

2. How many people took part in the rescue effort initially?

3. Why do people give in to apathy when they should be helping?

4. What happened to the cyclist who was rescued?

5. Which word in the text means 'goal'?

2. 請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. The concert was a failure. The band played as well as they could but their performance was met with __________.

apathy ? ? ?empathy ? ? ?solidarity ? ? ?intervention?

2. What a chaotic situation. Everyone is trying their best, but there is no __________ and nothing is getting done.

continuation ? ? ?intervention ? ? ?coordination ? ? ?empathy?

3. Thank you for helping __________. ?I couldn't have organised the party all by myself.?

out ? ? ?in ? ? ?on ? ? ?off?

4. Let's __________ in the meeting room to discuss the latest data coming from the US.?

join ? ? ?inhibit ? ? ?collaborate ? ? ?gather?

5. I was going about my __________ when the police turned up and arrested me. I'm innocent!?

intervention ? ? ?behaviour ? ? ?business ? ? ?street

答案

1. 閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. How were the images of the rescue distributed?
The video went viral on social media. 

2. How many people took part in the rescue effort at the beginning?
About five people, according to Zoheb, a driver who was there. 

3. Why do people give in to apathy when they should be helping?
According to professor of social psychology Mark Levine, one of the reasons it happens is that people are not sure what to do. 

4. What happened to the cyclist who was rescued?
He was taken to hospital. 

5. Which word in the text means 'goal'?
Objective.

  2. 請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. The concert was a failure. The band played as well as they could but their performance was met with apathy.

2. What a chaotic situation. Everyone is trying their best, but there is no coordination and nothing is getting done.?

3. Thank you for helping out. I couldn't have organised the party all by myself.?

4. Let's gather in the meeting room to discuss the latest data coming from the US.?

5. I was going about my business when the police turned up and arrested me. I'm innocent!