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Read the following article from a newspaper. Then answer the multiple choice questions by circling the best answer, A, B, C or D.
Are we living in a walk-on-by society?
Today how many of us seeing a group of 11- or 12-year-olds
vandalising a phone box or picking on a younger child would actually
intervene? Yet if we don´t, who will?
Intervening would be an example of 'active citizenship', in which
citizens should become guardians of their own communities,
confronting disrespect and disorder. Instead of asking for more and
more policemen on the beat, we should take minor law and order into
our own hands.
Frankly this strikes me as unrealistic to the point of lunacy. In a
highly disciplined society -Japan, for instance - you might well get
away with rebuking someone for antisocial behaviour. But this is
because the Japanese have a very highly developed sense of respect
for authority.
I remember sitting in a subway train in Kyoto and noticing, to my
surprise, that a young man sitting opposite me had put his feet up on
the seat without removing his shoes (which the Japanese invariably
do). As a foreigner, and with limited Japanese, I did not even think of
rebuking him. But he caught my glance, obviously read my unspoken
thought, blushed and removed his feet. Try anything like this on the
London Underground and you might find that even an unspoken, but
obvious, thought will call forth a torrent of the foul-mouthed abuse
that has become such a notable feature of our society.
We all have at the back of our minds the notion that we are entitled to
make a “citizen´s arrest”. But I have never met anyone mad enough
to try a citizen´s arrest -and with good reason. If you get your facts
wrong and jump to a hasty conclusion that the man lying on the
ground is the victim when he actually started the fight, so that you
seize the wrong man, then you could be guilty of 'false arrest' and be
liable to damages.
Given that criminals are very ready to assert their 'rights', even
against their victims, only a criminal lawyer or an off-duty policeman
could arrest someone without fear of getting into serious trouble.
So, what would you do if, walking through the local park one day you
notice two children who are obviously playing truant. Would you
simply ignore them and then moan about the problems of truancy
later to friends, or take a firm hold of their collars and march them to
the police station. Or what if you saw a man hitting a woman in the
street, you are bound to feel honourably called upon to intervene. But
what if it is a lovers' row, and they both turn on you?
Surely there are times when we have to do something. What if you
hear a woman scream in a side street and it sounds like a scream of
terror, then. what else can you do but try to help? The French actually
have a stern and strictly enforced law that makes it a criminal offence
if you fail to assist someone in danger or distress.
Our trouble is that we are an undisciplined society, in which we
increasingly use the law to try to regulate fairly minor antisocial
behaviour. The result is that many people feel that to be active
citizens is to go along with an increasing busybodiness that is actually
deeply unpopular.
How many of us would really want to report a motorist (let alone
rebuke him) for a minor parking offence? Do not most of us feel that
the police are already too keen to prosecute car owners, so that if we
help them we feel less like 'active citizens' than collaborators. The
paradox is that it is in societies which by our standards are not so
organised that people are much more willing to intervene.
In Cairo a few months ago, coming out of a restaurant, I was
approached by three ragged boys begging for money. They were
obviously just about to snatch my wallet and run off when two
passersby on opposite sides of the street bellowed at them in a real
fury, and sent them on their way. I doubt this would happen in
London. But in Cairo everyone smokes on trains and buses, everyone
drops masses of litter and everybody hates the police.
A few years ago an elderly, publicly spirited woman I know saw a
well-built mugger snatch a handbag from a girl on the Underground.
She followed him down the escalator, found him standing on a
platform waiting for a train, marched up to him and said: 'Young
man, give me that handbag'. He was so startled that he meekly
handed it over.
Then she really did behave like an active citizen: 'You will now come
with me upstairs and we shall find a policeman and he will arrest
you.' 'Ma´am,' he replied, 'don´t push your luck.' This is what I would
say to anybody prepared to take these ideas of active citizenship too
seriously.
1. How did the writer react to the sight of the man on the train?
A He asked him to take his feet off the seat.
B He was embarrassed by his behaviour.
C He didn't say anything.
D He told him off for not removing his shoes.
2. The writer feels that
A we should be asking for more policemen.
B we should be prepared to deal with small law and order problems ourselves.
C active citizenship works really well in Japan.
D the idea of active citizenship is inappropriate in England.
3. Making a citzen's arrest
A is something we often have on our minds.
B might lead to somebody other than the criminal being punished.
C could lead to the wrong person being found guilty.
D is only carried out by criminal lawyers and off duty policemen.
4. Compared to the French, the British are less likely to intervene because
A they don't want to be unpopular.
B they can't be bothered.
C there is no law to make them do so.
D they can leave it to the police.
5. Which statement is closest to the writer's opinion?
A Cairo is less organised but people are more likely to intervene.
B Cairo is more organised but people are more willing to intervene.
C People in Cairo hate the police as much as the British.
D People have similar attitudes in both cities.
6. How did the writer feel about the actions of the elderly woman?
A She expected too much.
B She was foolish to intervene.
C He was surprised by what she did.
D He thought she acted bravely.
KEY
1. C
2. D
3. B
4. C
5. A
6. A
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