Tips: To give or not to give? 小费：给还是不给？

咖啡师申克尔靠小费谋生，但小费本不应该是他的主要工资。近年来，小费制度的弊端日益显现，让我们一起看看吧。

主题语境：社会热点 篇幅：331词 建议用时：7分钟

1 “Nothing beats a good coffee shot，” Schenker says. As a barista since 2010， he takeshis craft seriously. He even brings some of his own tools to work， like a special portafil⁃ter， which lets him see the coffee while making coffee， so he can make sure it has theright color and consistency.

2 When Schenker started out in 2010， tipping was in cash， and it wasn’t much： He tookhome roughly $10 a day. But tipping gradually became a bigger and bigger part ofSchenker’s pay， and today he depends on those tips to make a livable wage.“ I’ve nevermade more than $25，000 a year，” says Schenker.“ I cannot even wrap my head aroundthe idea of making $30，000 or $40，000 a year. I could do so with just that muchmoney.”

3 Sylvia Allegretto， a senior economist， feels Schenker’s frustration.“ I became an econo⁃mist because I was a low⁃wage waitress for a long， long time，” she says. Allegrettopoints out that a lot of tipped workers across the US earn a subminimum wage with theidea that tips will get them up to the minimum wage， but that doesn’t always happen.Poverty rates for tipped workers are more than double the rates for other workers.

4 Allegretto says part of the problem is that tipping is presented as a“ Thank you！” for great service when in reality it’s something else entirely.“ Tips are a wage addition tothe employer，” she says.“ It’s not a tip. It goes to your wage. It is just the amount thatthe employer doesn’t have to pay you. And people don’t understand that.”

5 Nowadays， there’s a lot of pressure to keep prices low for increasingly price⁃consciouscustomers. Tipping is a way to get more money from customers without charging themmore money that is meant to go to paying workers. And providing customers with a tip⁃ping option， when they didn’t have one before， can be a way to attract hard⁃to⁃findworkers without offering higher wages.

Inference

1. Which of the following best describes Schenker？

A. Ambitious. B. Responsible.

C. Talkative. D. Skillful.

Detail

2. What is a challenge facing Schenker？

A. Unemployment. B. Health issues.

C. Family problems. D. Finance.

Inference

3. What does Allegretto intend to express in paragraph 3？

A. Most tipped workers get higher pay than other workers.

B. Her interest in economy led her to the present career.

C. Tipped workers deserve to earn more than they do.

D. Tipping is a way to show customers‘ thanks.

Detail

4. How does the author find tipping？

A. Necessary. B. Troublesome.

C. Customer⁃centered. D. Money⁃oriented.

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

Allegretto points out that a lot of tipped workers across the US earn a subminimumwage with the idea that tips will get them up to the minimum wage， but that doesnt alwayshappen. 阿莱格雷托指出，美国许多小费工作者的工资低于最低工资标准，这些工人认为赚取小费可以帮助他们达到最低工资标准，但实际情况并非总是这样。

【点石成金】本句是一个由but连接的并列句。第一个分句中的points out后面接了一个宾语从句，该宾语从句还包括一个由that引导的同位语从句。

Ⅱ. Text⁃centered chunks

take...seriously 认真对待……

make sure 确保

depend on 依靠

point out 指出

in reality 实际上