Most people do not have the patience to wait a few seconds for the elevator doors to shut, so they push the 'close' button to speed up the process.
大多数人没有等待电梯自动关闭的耐心（虽然这个过程只有几秒钟），所以他们按“关门”键来加快关门速度。
However, some say this feature has been
obsolete since the 1990s, suggesting the button is a complete fake it will not close the doors any faster.
Experts reveal that there numerous buttons in the world that do not live up to their name, but are present to make us feel in control.
The Americans With Disabilities Act was passed in 1990,
mandating that elevators stay open long enough for someone with a physical disability, such as on
crutches or in a wheelchair, to make it inside, Karen W. Penafiel, executive director of National Elevator Industry Inc., told Christopher Mele with The New York Times in an interview.
"Although these buttons are useless to the average person, they do perform their proper function for firefighters and maintenance workers but only with a code or designated keys."
Penafiel explains since an elevator's lifespan is around 25 years, it is safe to say that a majority, if any, do not have a functioning 'close' button but the 'open' button works when it is pushed.
As bizarre as it seems to place fake buttons in an elevator or other devices, they are there for good reasons.
'Perceived control is very
important,' Ellen J. Langer, a
psychology professor at Harvard University who has studied the illusion of control, told Mele in an email.
相关单词：obsolete
obsolete解释：adj.已废弃的，过时的
obsolete例句：
These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。
相关单词：mandating
mandating解释：托管（mandate的现在分词形式）
mandating例句：
Current requirements mandating that committees keep minutes are too general. 目前对委员会要保持详细记录的指令性要求，还是太过一般化了。
Mandating that workers who quit without permission forfeit a month's wages. 规定工人私自离岗将受到罚没一个月工资的处罚。
相关单词：crutches
crutches解释：n.拐杖, 支柱
v.支撑
crutches例句：
After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后，不得不靠拐杖走路。
相关单词：psychology
psychology解释：n.心理，心理学，心理状态
psychology例句：
She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。
相关单词：well-being
well-being解释：n.安康，安乐，幸福
well-being例句：
He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。
