Articles Essay

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Assignments in Communicative English Class-X (Term-I) Section B: Writing Article ASSIGNMENT 1 Read the following sample. Must One Be So Polite That It Hurts? By Sherry Buchanan International Herald Tribune New York — When in China, don’t give a clock as a gift. It symbolises death. When in Greece, don’t make the OK sign, thumb and forefinger touching in a circle. It is an offensive gesture. When in India, don’t give a Hindu a gift made of cowhide. It is sacrilegious. Some visitors follow a rule of thumb. They weigh how much displeasing their host matters to them against their degree of personal discomfort. ‘During our briefings, we help people develop respect for the country they are going to live in,’ said Claire Stewart, who works for an organisation which teaches manners to people being transferred overseas by their companies or universities. Letitia Baldridge, an authority on manners in the United States and the author of a book on the subject, said: ‘Good manners are not elite, artificial or snobbish ways of behaving. Manners are a combination of common sense and consideration for others. It’s 75 per cent common sense and 25 per cent thinking about others.’ Her advice covers every aspect of social behaviour, including smoking manners, flag etiquette for banquets, writing letters of apology, and the proper form for business cards. Everywhere, it has become extremely complicated to be polite. Not only are customs different but in many countries standards of behaviour have changed in recent years. GO YA L Discuss in pairs the following : (a) What are good manners and bad manners? (b) Do some manners seem outdated in the present times? (c) How has the definition of good manners changed with times? Write an article, after discussion with your partner on “The Need for Good Manners” in about 200 words for your school magazine. BR OT HE RS People
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