Manners nowadays in metropolitan cities like London are practically non-existent. It is nothing for a big, strong schoolboy to push an elderly woman aside to take the last remaining seat on the underway or bus.
This question of giving up seats in public transport is much argued about by young men, who say that since women have claimed equality, they no longer deserve to be treated with politeness and that those who go out to work should take their turns in the rat race like anyone else. But women have never claimed to be physically strong as men. Even if it is not agreed, however, the fact remains that courtesy(礼节) should be shown to the old and the sick. Are we really so lost to all ideals of unselfishness that we can sit there indifferently(冷漠地) reading the paper or a book, saying to ourselves, “First come, first served” while a grey-haired woman, a mother with a young child or a cripple(残障者) stands? Yet this is all too often seen.
Older people, tired and impatient from a day’s work, are not always considerate either — far from it. Many arguments break out as the older people push and squeeze(挤)each other to get on buses. One cannot approve this, of course, but one does feel there is just a little more excuse.
It seems urgent, not only that communications in transport should be improved, but also that communication between human beings should be kept smooth and polite. All over cities, it seems that people are too tired and too rushed to be polite. Shop assistants won’t bother to assist; taxi drivers shout at each other as they dash dangerously around corners; bus conductors pull the bell before their desperate passengers have time to get on or off the bus, and so on. It seems to us that it is up to the young to do their small part to stop such lowering of moral standards.
Title：Manners in Metropolitan Cities
| Theme | Politeness is (1) ▲ , especially in large cities. | |
| Phenomena and Excuses | Phenomena | Excuses |
| Big, strong schoolboys push elderly women aside to (2) ▲ on the last remaining seats. |
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| Young men (3) ▲ to treat women politely. | Women think they are(4) ▲ to men, so they should take their turns in the rat race like others. | |
| Young people sit indifferently(5) ▲ while grey-haired women, mothers with (6) ▲ and disabled people stand by. | First come, first served. | |
| The elderly themselves push each other to get on buses. |
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| (7) ▲ | ●Communications in transport are not satisfactory. ●Communication between people doesn’t go (8) ▲ and politely. ●People are too (9) ▲ and too rushed to care about others. | |
| Solution | Young people make an (10) ▲ to stop such lowering of moral standards. | |