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Unit 7: Comprehension Passages

‘How nice you look in your uniform; that is the Scout uniform, isn’t it’? and there was really Notes
nothing silly in her remark.
It is only stupid people who take remarks too literally, as we say; that is, who do not look for the
real meaning in the statements people make. Thus, when a friend says, ‘You will not be going

past the post office, will you?’ he may mean, ‘I should be grateful if you would post a letter for
me if it is not too much trouble’. If you say ‘No’ to the question because you are not going past
the post offi ce, it means to your friend that you are not willing to go out of your way even a little
to oblige him.
It is not always easy in company to speak frankly, and if you don’t want to be considered a bad
mannered person. You have to watch constantly for signs. It is not easy, for example, to listen for
long to any one person. Try in company to take only a fair share of the conversation. If there are
two of you, take half of it. When you have said a little, keep quiet, and give your friend chance to
say something. If he does not talk, he probably does not want you to talk either. Many a young
man or woman talks away, thinking the company is delighted to hear him or her, and everyone
is really exhausted and angry.
Don’t think you can say unpleasant things about someone behind his back and not be found out.

It is surprising how the remarks usually find their way to the person with your name attached,
so to speak. Whatever you say, always assume that the person may over hear, and adjust your
remarks accordingly. All experience people act in this way.
Now here is one of the most surprising things in life: no man really understands himself. What
a lot of argument and anger we should be save if people would only understand this. Suppose,
for example, you saw a motor accident and were giving evidence about what happened. You

would feel perfectly confident, perhaps, that the car which knocked the boy over was a blue car;
another person would be equally confident that it was a grey car; and someone else that it was

a black car.
Experiments are sometimes made by experts to find out how many errors people do make in

their statements. Here is one experiment which was tried. Some students at a University were
shown on a screen a picture of a bull fight. They were then asked to write short account of what

they had seen. When this was finished they were told to put a number on every statement made-
1 if they thought so; 2 if they were fairly sure about it; 3 if they were quite sure; and 4 if they were
prepared to swear to the statement on oath. Every student had at least ten per cent errors in the
statements he was prepared to swear to an oath, and considerably more than ten percent in all
the other groups.
Now how does this happen? Here, for example, was one mistake. A student saw the bull having
its tongue out. He was quite sure about it. Yet when he was shown the picture again, he saw that
the bull’s mouth was closed, but that, because its head was turned to the side, the ear looked like
the tongue.

So whenever you are arguing with someone about a point, remember that there is quite a good

chance that you are wrong, however confident you feel about it.
Good manners come from having sympathy with others and from understanding our own
limitations. ‘The Truth’ is too big for anyone of us to understand. ‘The Truth’ as we see it is only
our truth and part of larger Truth. We should always realize that we are humble, unimportant
little people on this earth and try to help the world as much as we can in out short time here. ‘I
expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness
that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall
not pass this way again.’
(Adapted from an Introduction to Citizenship by I.C Hill)

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