Do you ever get to the train station and realize you forgot to bring something to read? Yes, we all have our phones, but many of us still like to go old school and read something printed.

Well, there’s a kiosk (小亭) for that. In the San Francisco Bay Area, at least.

“You enter the fare gates (检票口) and you’ll see a kiosk that is lit up and it tells you can get a one-minute, a three-minute, or a five-minute story,” says Alicia Trost, the chief communications officer for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit — known as BART. “You choose which length you want and it gives you a receipt-like short story.”

It’s that simple. Riders have printed nearly 20,000 short stories and poems since the program was launched last March. Some are classic short stories, and some are new original works.

Trost also wants to introduce local writers to local riders. “We wanted to do something where we do a call to artists in the Bay Area to submit stories for a contest,” Trost says. “And as of right now, we’ve received about 120 submissions. The winning stories would go into our kiosk and then you would be a published artist.”

Ridership on transit (交通) systems across the country has been down the past half century, so could short stories save transit?

Trost thinks so.

“At the end of the day all transit agencies right now are doing everything they can to improve the rider experience. So I absolutely think we will get more riders just because of short stories,” she says.

And you’ll never be without something to read.

1.Why did BART start the kiosk program?

A To promote the local culture.

B To discourage phone use.

C To meet passengers’ needs.

D To reduce its running costs.

解析：选C。C  细节理解题。文章第一段明确指出，许多人仍然喜欢传统的阅读方式，尤其是当他们在火车站等待或乘坐火车时。BART（旧金山湾区快速交通系统）的自动售货亭项目就是为了满足这些乘客的需求而设立的。它允许乘客选择并打印短篇故事或诗歌，以便在旅途中阅读。因此，选项C“为了满足乘客的需求”是正确答案。故选C。

2.How are the stories categorized in the kiosk?

A By popularity.

B By length.

C By theme.

D By language.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。文章第三段描述了乘客如何使用自动售货亭。根据“it tells you can get a one-minute, a three-minute, or a five-minute story”它告诉你可以得到一个一分钟，三分钟或五分钟的故事，以及“You choose which length you want and it gives you a receipt-like short story”你选择你想要的长度，它就会给你一个像收据一样的短篇故事。这意味着乘客可以根据他们想要阅读的长度来选择故事，而不是根据故事的流行度、主题或语言。故选B。

3.What has Trost been doing recently?

A Organizing a story contest.

B Doing a survey of customers.

C Choosing a print publisher.

D Conducting interviews with artists.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。文章第六段描述了Trost的近期计划。根据“We wanted to do something where we do a call to artists in the Bay Area to submit stories for a contest,” Trost says. “And as of right now, we’ve received about 120 submissions. The winning stories would go into our kiosk and then you would be a published artist.”可知，她提到他们正在向湾区的艺术家们发出号召，提交故事参加比赛。这意味着她正在组织一个故事比赛，以吸引当地作家和艺术家参与。因此，选项A“组织故事比赛”是正确答案。故选A。

4.What is Trost’s opinion about BART’s future?

A It will close down.

B Its profits will decline.

C It will expand nationwide.

D Its ridership will increase.

解析：选D。D 观点态度题。文章倒数第二段引用了Trost的观点。她认为，由于所有交通机构都在努力改善乘客体验，而BART的自动售货亭项目就是其中一个例子，它能够为乘客提供额外的娱乐和阅读选择。因此，她认为这个项目将吸引更多的乘客，导致BART的乘客数量增加。所以，选项D“其乘客数量将增加”是正确答案。故选D。