Would you mind keeping your voice down? Unit 7 Reading

Section 1 Before You Read Look up the word “etiquette” in your dictionary. What does it mean? Look at the picture below. How many rules of etiquette can you see being broken? Make a list with your partner. etiquette 礼节；礼仪

Section 1 Before You Read to embrace

Section 1 Before You Read make a bow

Section 1 Before You Read to shake hands

Section 1 Before You Read Reading strategy: As we read, we need to find “topic sentence”. These sentences usually give us a “summary”, or overall meaning of each paragraph and help us understand what the paragraph is about. After the topic sentence comes more detail and explanation.

Section 1 Before You Read eat in public

Section 1 Before You Read smoke in public

Section 1 Before You Read spit everywhere

Section 1 Before You Read talk loudly in public

Section 2 While You Read Would you mind keeping your voice down? If you spend some time in an English- speaking country, you might hear the term “etiquette”. It means normal and polite social behavior. This may seem like a difficult word at first, but it can be very useful to understand.

Section 2 While You Read Etiquette is not the same in every culture, or in every situation. For example, standing very close to the person you are talking with is quite common in some Asian countries. However, if you do this in Europe, some people might feel uncomfortable. Even in China, we all know that etiquette is not the same in all situations.

Section 2 While You Read Perhaps we think that talking loudly in our own homes is fine, but there are other places where talking loudly is not allowed. For example, most people would agree that talking loudly in a library, a museum, or a movie theater is impolite. Even if you are with your friends, it is better to keep your voice down in public places. In fact, we should also take care not to cough or sneeze loudly in public if possible.

Section 2 While You Read If we see someone breaking the rules of etiquette, we may give them some suggestions politely. Perhaps one of the most polite ways is to ask someone, Would you mind doing this or Would you mind not doing that. For example, if someone cuts in front of you in a line, you could ask them, sorry, would you mind joining the line? If someone is smoking on the bus, we could ask, Excuse me, could you please put out that cigarette? People don’t usually like to be criticized, so we have to be careful how we do this.

Section 2 While You Read Although rules of etiquette can often be different, some rules are the same almost everywhere in the world! For example, dropping litter is almost never allowed. If you see someone you know doing this, you can ask them, Would you mind picking it up?

Section 3 After You Read Paragraph 1 Paragraph 3 Paragraph 4 Paragraph 2 a. We have to be very careful how we criticize people. b. The way people behave is different in different cultures and situations. c. Sometimes, rules of etiquette are the same almost everywhere. d. Etiquette is a very important idea to understand. e. We might want to ask someone to behave more politely if we see them breaking a rule of etiquette. f. People in China and Europe have different ideas about etiquette. d b e a

Homework: Finish off the other exercises in “Reading”.