For instance, people often avoid eye contact with someone standing 14 them, or they pretend that these people are lifeless objects in their personal space.
答案：(B) close to
【字彙】close to 表示「靠近」，符合「與站在附近的人避免眼神接觸」的文意。long before（很久以前）、aside from（除了…之外）、soon after（不久之後）皆與空間鄰近的語境不符。
四個選項都是兩個字，長得像同一類東西，很容易囫圇讀過去；加上 long before 與 soon after 這兩個時間說法在文章裡看多了，眼睛掃到會自動接受，於是就選了其中一個。
先看空格前後：someone standing ______ them，空格夾在分詞 standing 與代名詞 them 之間，要填的是把「站」與「他們」接起來的那個東西，講的是位置。close to（靠近）正好，整句讀成「避免與站在身旁的人眼神接觸」，與這一段在講的個人空間被壓縮完全一致。四個選項雖然都是兩個字，其實分成兩型，值得一次分清楚。一型是幾個字合起來當一個介系詞用，例如 aside from，劍橋 English Grammar Today 的 Prepositions 條目把這一類收在一起；另一型是前面那個字只是副詞，真正管事的是後面那個介系詞，long before 與 soon after 就是這一型，before 與 after 本來就是介系詞，long 與 soon 只是在修飾它們（劍橋 English Grammar Today 的 Prepositional phrases 條目）。驗算法很簡單：把前面那個字拿掉，看句子還通不通。standing before them、standing after them 拿掉 long 與 soon 都還成句，可見管事的是 before 與 after；standing from them 拿掉 aside 就不成句，可見 aside from 得整組一起用。close to 的 to 也拿不掉，它得跟著 close 一起走。
long before（很久以前）與 soon after（不久之後）都在講時間先後，但這一句要的是位置，不是時間。aside from（除了……之外）是把某樣東西排除或另外提出來，standing aside from them 會變成「站在他們之外」，與後半句接不上——後半句說的是 they pretend that these people are lifeless objects，明明人就在旁邊，卻假裝那些人是沒有生命的物體，前提正是「靠得很近」。
close to（靠近、接近）、aside from（除了……之外）、long before（很久以前）、soon after（不久之後）、avoid eye contact with（避免與……眼神接觸）、lifeless（沒有生命的、死氣沉沉的）
Have you been irritated by someone standing too close in line, talking too loud or making eye contact for too long? Or, they may have 11 you with the loud music from their earphones, or by taking up more than one seat on a crowded subway car. You feel unhappy because your personal space has been violated.
According to scientists, personal space involves certain invisible forces imposed on you through all the 12. For example, people may feel their space is being invaded when they experience an unwelcome sound, smell, or stare.
In certain situations such as in crowded subway cars or elevators, it is not always possible for people to keep their 13 distance from others. They learn coping strategies to deal with their discomfort. For instance, people often avoid eye contact with someone standing 14 them, or they pretend that these people are lifeless objects in their personal space. Given the opportunity, they may 15 to a corner, putting distance between themselves and strangers. Or, they may sit or stand equidistant from one another like birds on a wire.