For more than 40 years, Oswald Laurence's voice could be heard by tens of thousands of commuters across London's Tube daily. In a gentlemanly tone, what the message said was simple—mind the gap, please. To one woman, the voice meant a lot more, and her heart broke when it was phased out after being played for decades.
Margaret McCollum is Laurence's widow, and after her husband passed away in 2007, the one place she could go and still hear her beloved's voice was Embankment station on London's Northern Line. There, she would sit on the platform bench and listen to him say, "Mind the gap!" over and over. Hearing his voice allowed her to find comfort in his absence and remain close to him even though he was gone forever. A few months ago, though, a digitized voice replaced the reassuring message from her late husband. McCollum was devastated and felt the only gap that needed minding now was the one in her life. She wrote letters to Transport for London, pleading with them to reinstate the iconic message.
Her story eventually touched the heart of one kind soul at Transport for London. Soon, she not only received a recording of her husband's voice on a CD, but her husband's recorded warning was reinstated. The computerized voice was ditched, and Laurence's voice could once again be heard at Embankment station, with plans to expand the use of his voice even further. McCollum is delighted that she can now continue to ride the train while being reminded of the love of her life. These small acts of kindness remind us that there are people out there who care.
1. What happened to the message that was played on London's Tube?
(A) It was put in a museum.
(B) People didn't like it.
(C) It was replaced.
(D) A woman asked them to stop playing it.
2. Why did McCollum sit on the platform listening to the message?
(A) She hoped it would remind her of the time she spent there with her husband.
(B) It was the only place that she was able to catch glimpses of9 her husband.
(C) It reminded her of her youth.
(D) It was the place where she could hear her dead husband's voice.
3. What sort of voice replaced Laurence's?
(A) A man's voice.
(B) A child's voice.
(C) A woman's voice.
(D) An electronic voice.
4. Why did Transport for London decide to bring the original message back10?
(A) The woman's story moved them.
(B) The public demanded it.
(C) The woman paid them to do it.
(D) The woman wrote a letter to her relatives. |
沒有留言:
張貼留言