Page 77 - DENG101_Communication Skills-I

Communication Skills-I

Notes (d) Vivacious

Ans: Lively
(e) Impulse
Ans: Caprice

7.2 Comprehension 2: Good Manners

There was once a young man who was strong and healthy and enjoyed his work. In every way
he felt on top of life, and had no sympathy for the uninteresting folk who seemed to form such a

large proportion of the population. One day he got an attack of influenza. He had had it before
and paid little attention to it, but this time he developed pneumonia and was dangerously ill.
When he recovered he could only move slowly. He was easily tired and life became diffi cult
for him. When he was well enough to go to work he found the journey back home very tiring.
He looked at the strong young men sitting comfortably in the train or bus, and then, feeling
tired himself, noticed how tired some of the older people were who were standing beside him.
Gradually he got strong again, but when he was in a train he now looked round to see if there
was any older person in need of a seat, and if there was any he gave up his. ‘I’ve got my strength
back now’, he said to himself; ‘these older people will never have their strength again’.
When your are cycling and see an old man hesitating on a crossing, don’t call him an old fool. He
may not hear very well, or he may not see clearly, or he may have become tired with walking.
Perhaps he was a famous soldier in the war and his wounds are still painful, or perhaps he has
an artifi cial leg. One day your may go to a war and be severely injured. What will you think if
school boys make fun of you because you can only move slowly?
One of things all boys and girls are going to learn before very long is that they are fragile little
things in a dangerous world. Your parents and your teachers and all older people have had some
severe blows already. They get more severe blows every year. Most of them would give all the
money they have to get your health and strength, your good teeth and nice hair. You have no
idea how tired they are at times, but because they do not complain you think everything is all
right. Well, try to make life easy for them as far as you can, and when it is your turn to suffer you
will feel happier for having helped when you could.
Good manners are also important when your are with your own friends. When you speak to

anyone, speak clearly and sufficiently loudly for the person to hear. It is an insult to a person to
ask his attention and then speak so that he does not understand you. And remember it is your
responsibility to make yourself understood.
An American writer called Thoreau said, ‘It takes two to speak the truth-one to speak, .and
another to hear.’ This is a very important saying, and it would save a great deal of argument and
annoyance in life if people paid attention to it. ‘It takes two to speak truth.’ You cannot speak the
truth by saying what you think is the truth. You have to express it differently for different people.
To some people ‘Socialism’ means taking money from those who have money and giving it to
those who have none. To other people ‘Socialism’ means state control of industry and commerce.
To others we cannot tell a man ‘the truth about Socialism’ until you know what he understands
by the term. If you say, ‘I believe in Socialism’, and he understands that you mean you believe in
robbery you must not be surprised if he takes a dislike to you; and if that is not what you mean,
you did not speak the truth. If a man says to a friend, ‘Good morning, Mr. A’, and the friend
replies ‘It’s not a morning at all’, is that the truth, even if the morning is bad?

Sometimes people ask very tiresome questions and we like to make a joke about it. ‘Are you a
Boy Scout?’ said a lay to a boy wearing shorts, a jersey with badges, a Scout’s hat, and carrying a
Boy Scout pole. ‘No’, said the little fellow, ‘I’m two eggs on toast.’ The lady only meant, however,

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