What are the basic elements(要素)of good manners? Certainly a strong sense of justice is one; courtesy(谦恭)is often 1 more than a highly developed sense of fair play．A friend of mine once told me about a time he was 3 along a narrow, unpaved(未铺柏油的)mountain road． 3 was another car that produced clouds of 4 , and it was a long way to the nearest 5 highway．Suddenly, at a 6 place, the car ahead pulled off the road． 7 that its owner might have engine trouble, my friend stopped and asked if anything was wrong．“ 8 ,”said the other driver, “but you’ve endured(忍受)my dust this far; I’ll 9 with yours the rest of the way．”
Another element of courtesy is empathy(善解人意), a 10 that enables a person to see into the mind or heart of someone else, to understand the pain or 11 there and to do something to minimize it．A man 12 alone in a restaurant was trying to open the cap of a beer bottle, 13 he couldn’t do it because of badly injured 14 ．He asked a young busboy to help him．The boy took the bottle, turned his back 15 and loosened the cap without difficulty．Then he 16 it again．Turning back to the man, he 17 to make great efforts to open the bottle without success． 18 he took it into the kitchen and returned shortly, saying that he had managed to loosen it－but only with a pair of pliers(钳子)．
Yet another element of politeness is the ability to treat all people 19 , in spite of all status or importance． 20 when you have doubts about some people, act as if they are worthy of your best manners．You may also be astonished to find out what they really are．
Perhaps some people in the world ever write to Big Ben．They even 1 birthday presents．In fact, Big Ben is not a 2 ．It's a clock!
Big Ben is the great clock 3 up in a tower of the Parliament(议会)building．This is the building in London 4 laws are made．The people of London like to see Big Ben's four friendly faces．They like to hear the chimes(钟声) 5 15 minutes．They like to hear the bell 6 the hours．Bong! Bong! Bong!
Big Ben's story started in 1834．In that year the old Parliament building burned 7 ．Its clock tower crashed to the ground．There 8 to be a new building and a new clock．
Plans were made．They 9 it “King of Clocks, the biggest and best in the world”．So the clock had to be big．And it had to 10 very good time．
In two years the big clock was made．Five more years went by 11 the clock tower was finished．Then the four 12 for the chimes(击钟装置)were brought into the tower．And at last the giant hour bell was put in 13 ．It 14 out for the first time on July 11,1859．
This great bell had to have a name．A meeting of Parliament was called to pick 15 ．“This clock is the King of Clocks,” one man said．“Let's call the bell Queen of Bells．”
“Then why not Victoria?” said 16 ．The talk about names went 1 ．Then Benjamin Hall got up to speak．He was a big man that others liked．By this time they were all 18 ．Someone shouted, “Why not call it Big Ben and be done 19 it?
Everybody laughed, and the meeting 20 ．But from then on, Big Ben was not just the bell but the whole clock．
