1.2 On Saying Please

                                                 
                                                       

                                                         By Alfred George Gardiner

In this essay,  Alfred George Gardiner sheds light on the importance of good manners in social life and stresses the value of courtesy and politeness in our day to day behaviour.  The writer discusses an example of a lift man who threw a passenger only because the passenger did not use the courtesy word 'Please.' He says that the manners or netiquettes are not part of legal aspects but highly demanded values in the society. It is not an offence if you hurt anyone but physical assault can be. He tells his experience of a conductor who makes passengers lives full of ecstasy by behaving with them courteously and politely. 

                                     

1. List the words of courtesy that we use in our daily life. Discuss them with your partner and explain the purpose of using each.

    2.Listed below are a few character traits of people. Some are positive traits. While others are not. Tick the ones you feel are desirable.

   Characteristic traits    Characteristic traits       Characteristic traits 

Conniving	Aggressive	Boastful
Insensitive	Scheming	Humble
Sly	Wise	Servile
Naïve	Benevolent √	Patronizing
Rude	Egoistic	Generous
Humorous	Rude	Manipulating

Answer

Conniving	Aggressive	Boastful
Insensitive	Scheming	√Humble
Sly	Wise  √	Servile
Naïve	Benevolent √	Patronizing
Rude	Egoistic	Generous √
Humorous √	Rude	Manipulating

        

3. Etiquette and manners are very important for a person to live in the society. 

  Read the following and put them in proper columns. 

1.To receive phone calls while you are in a lecture or class. 

2.To knock before you enter your principal's office. 

3.To thank the person who offers you tea or coffee. 

4.To be polite and courteous to others. 

5.To leave the classroom without the teachers permission.  

6.To occupy the seats reserved for ladies for physically challenged for elderly 

   people on a bus or a train.

Appropriate	Inappropriate
to knock before you enter your principal's office.	To receive phone calls while you are in a lecture or class.
To thank the person who offers you tea or coffee.	To occupy the seats reserved for ladies for physically challenged for elderly people on a bus or a train.
To be polite and courteous to others.	To leave the classroom without the teachers permission.

Brainstorming 

A1. Form groups and explain the following words with examples. You can take help of your          teacher.

1.Humility

2.Self esteem

3.Gratitude

4.Courtesy

5.Generosity

6. Sympathy

7.Empathy

1. Humility: It is the quality of not being very proud for.  Example: when a sports person gives credit to the team upon receiving an award it is an example of humility.

2. Self esteem: It is an individuals evaluation of once one worth. Ex. When you are happy , feel motivated . It is a sign of self esteem.

3. Gratitude: It is the quality of being thankful and showing appreciation for something. Example: when you Thank your mentor for guiding you in important aspects of your life it is showing gratitude. 

4. Courtesy: It is the quality of showing politeness in in ones behaviour and attitude. Example: Saying ‘please’ when you make a request and saying ‘thank you’ when someone does favour is a sign of courtesy. 

5. Generosity: It is the quality of being kind and generous.  Example: A tree is  an epic example of generosity. It showers us abundant fresh air shade flowers and fruits and asks for nothing in return.

6. Sympathy: It is the feeling of pity and sorrow over someone’s suffering. Example: people who work for animal rights care and rehabilitation have sympathetic attitude two words them.

7. Empathy: It is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Example:  When your friend wins an award.

ii. Have a group discussion on the topic the need of soft skills at workplace use the following points:

  1.Written and verbal communication

    2. Ways of Interacting with others  

    3. Creative abilities  

    4. Emotional intelligence

Read the text and state whether the following statements are true or false correct the false statements.

1.Bitter problems in day today life can be solved by sweet words.

2.Great wars could have been avoided by a little courtesy.

3.Observance of etiquette in a normal situation is important but more important is there observance when the situation is adverse.

4. Words like please and thank you help us in making our passage through life  an easy.

5.The law permits anybody to use violence if another person is discourteous.

1.Bitter problems in day today life can be solved by sweet words.

        True

2.Great wars could have been avoided by a little courtesy.

       True

3.Observance of etiquette in a normal situation is important but more important is there observance when the situation is adverse.

       True

4. Words like please and thank you help us in making our passage through life an easy.

       True

5.The law permits anybody to use violence if another person is discourteous.

       False

iii. Select the most appropriate sentences which suggest the theme of the essay.

i.Tells us about courtesy civility morality responsibility and control.

ii.The essay explorers the difficulties that can be incurred by an individual when dealing with the public.

iii.One can keep one's piece of mind without having to lower themselves to the level of the perceived offender.

iv.People with low self-esteem are generally difficult to work with and they looked down upon others to get a feeling of superiority.

                 Answer: ii and iv

iii) a. Find the reasons for the lift man's uncivilized behaviour.

The lift-man behaved in an uncivilized manner by declining to comply with his instructions and ever by throwing the passenger out of the date. This was because that passenger had failed to respect the lift-man by saying just “Top” rather than “Top Please.”

 Housemaid

b. List the people and their behaviour that it made the passenger rude and ill mannered.

                                                     Housemaid  Wife Employer 
                                                                                                                        
                                                    Passenger Lift-man Employee

iv) Good manners are required in our daily life for making our social contacts more co-operative and friendly.

 Illustrate the behaviour of the polite conductor with different people in various situations.

Situation	Behaviour
1. The writer’s sensitive to was trampled on	The conductor said sorry with an apology and courtesy.
2. In the rainy season dealing with people	He would run upstairs to give someone the trip that there was room inside.
3. Dealing with old people	He was as considerate as a son.
4. Playing with children	He was solicitous as a father.
5. Dealing with young people	He indulged in some merry jest with them.
6. Dealing with a blind man	Set him down safely on the pavement and ask drivers t wait till he helped the man to cross the road.

v) Discuss and write the impact of good  temper and kindliness on the society in the light of the good-mannered conductor. 

 Good temper is a quality that makes people pleasant to be around good temper it's just as infectious as a bad one. If we are good tempered kind and humorous towards others, we will receive the same in return. The good mannered conductor in this story carries on enthusiastically with is modest job by the virtue of his even temper and being kind towards his passenger. He lightens up his own life and other people's lives by being nice to everyone.

vi) ‘Modest calling can be made dignified by good temper and kind feeling’. Explain the statement with your choice of examples.

One can carry out once profession with great dignity irrespective of it’s nature. In fact, the need for good temper and kindly feeling is universally required to carry out any kind of calling. Some examples, I know of a rickshaw driver who also carries school children in morning and afternoon. He  is very even-tempered caring and amusing to the kids so much so that the kids look up to having fun time with him while on their way to and from the school. There are a few others to who offer same service at somewhat lesser charge but parents have a special preference for this man when it comes to their kids travel as well as their own commuting when they need to hire is auto at the local railway station in Mumbai extremely courteously to his customers and does a quick and nice job of polishing for mending shoes even during the morning rush hours, I have  been seeing him for eight years now at the same place for rendering his services as cheerfully as ever to his customers many of whom are regulars to his stall.

vii) The service of the police is necessary for the implementation of law in our society. Do you think  you require this service for a good social environment? Discuss.

The answer to this question is a partial ‘Yes’. The police is necessary to enforce law in specific cases of violations of human rights that involve physical violence. So police is effective safeguarding one’s life property the police can't and force civility as law does not considered hurting once feelings as grounds for compensation enforcement of civilities such as saying ‘Please’ or ‘Thank you’ are not subjects under police control but matters of etiquette a good social environment is  an outcome of both safety of life and courteous behaviour so it would be justified to say that Police have limited role to play in ensuring good social environment.

A3. i)  He committed the crime in broad daylight not bright day light for narrow darkness.

1.I had a cup of strong tea (not reach tea).

2.The fast train is coming (not quick train).

such words or group of words which have usually occur together and thereby convey meaning by association are called collocations. Collocation is a combination of words in a language that often go together.

a) Find out the words in column 'B' collocate  with the words  column 'A'

Answer

A	B
regular	exercise
midday	meal
key	concept
fast	food
try	hard
richly	decorated
free	time
traffic	jam
social	justice
wild	animal

b) Learning collocation is essential in making your English sound fluent and natural Make collocations and use in your sentences.

1. Not preparing well for the examination was a big mistake that Shanti made.

2. We went to the big size stadium to watch the cricket world cup.

3. When the economy is slow, sale of big ticket items like cars houses and expensive vacations is on sale and an all time low.

4.Choosing the right career is a big decision that everyone should make at the right time.

5. Suman had a speech so well-written that he won an award for it.

6 .Ramesh has very well adjusted to city life in spite of spending most of his childhood in a rural place.

7.  Everyone complimented the new couple by saying that they are    well suited to each other.

8.  The resort was spacious and had exquisite, well appointed villas.

ii) sometimes while using a word in a sentence, we have to  change its word class. We can make several more words from the root word.

I asked Sumit  to ……….. my pencil for me.(sharp)

I  asked Sumit to sharpen my pencil for me.

Now read the following sentences and use the words given in brackets. Change the word class and rewrite the sentences.

    

a)Leena  was eating a very              apple obviously enjoying it.(crunch) 

b)This picture looks                 . (colour)

c)I am afraid that your behaviour is  just not              (accept)

d)I like my elder brother. He is very         .     (helpful) 

Answer

a) Leena  was eating a very crunchy  apple obviously enjoying it.

b)This picture looks  colorful.

c) I am afraid that your behaviour is  just not acceptable.             

d) I like my elder brother. He is very  helpful.

  Complete the following table. Put a cross if a word class does not exist.

No	Noun	Verb	Adjective	Adverb
i.	absence
ii.	alarm	alarm
iii.	attraction
iv.		enable
v.		admire
vii.		agree	applicable
viii.
ix.		differ

No	Noun	Verb	Adjective	Adverb
i.	absence	absent	absent	absently
ii.	alarm	alarm	alarming	alarmingly
iii.	attraction	attract	attractive	attractively
iv.	ability	enable	able	ably
v.	admiration	admire	admirable	admirably
vii.	agreement	agree	applicable	agreeably
viii.	application	apply	applicable	applicably
ix.	difference	differ	different	differently

iii) Register of an refers to the degree of formality of language but in a more general science it means the language used by a group of people who share similar work or interest, such as doctors or lawyers.
Imagine that you are principal or teacher is coming. When you meet him, you would never say,
Hey,dude! What's up?'
This is a formal situation, so you would say 'Good morning Sir'.
In every situation you use an appropriate expression according to the person. The language you use, when you meet someone depends on their age , position etc.
There are formal and informal registers in spoken and written language.
Write appropriate expressions and words which you have to use while facing an interview.

a) May I come in?
b) Good Morning
c) Pardon please
d) Sorry , I did not understand the question.
e) Look into the eyes of interviewer and answer with confidence.
You are writing a letter of compliant. List  the proper expressions that you would like to write. 

a) I would like to seek  your attention to this issue. 
b) It has been a matter of great concern for us. 
c) Please look into this complaint at the  earliest.
d) Looking forward for immediate response.
e) Your immediate action in this concern will be highly appreciated.