Quietly sitting there reading, I found myself suddenly listening to the train guard’s announcements. Train travelers will surely agree that when the guard makes an announcement, whether it’s the recorded message or the guard’s message, few people listen to it, because it’s often quite dull or hard to understand. This one was different.I noticed that other passengers appeared to be listening, too. Not only that, everyone was smiling!
Why was so much attention being paid to this message? As best I can recall, the guard said something along these lines, Good Morning Ladies,Gentlemen and Children, this is the7:35 am from Penrith to Central and you’ll be pleased to know that we are right on time. And what a lovely morning it is in Sydney today. The sun is shining,birds are singing, and all’s right with the world.I trust you have a great day wherever you’re going. Thanks for catching my train this morning.
Quite a few people (obviously previous strangers) started talking to one another about the guard’s excellent message and how good it had made everyone feel. I started thinking about this, and then I found the young guard and said “Were you the guard on the 7:35 am from Penrith?” The guard seemed a bit stunned at first, replying, “Yes, yyyyes.” “Well, I really appreciate your announcement. Thank you for your extremely good message, which gave me and the other passengers such a good start to the day. Please keep doing it.” I said.
There are two messages for me in what happened that day. Firstly, when people are happy in their work it shows in what they do and say. Secondly, the story attaches much importance to the benefits that accumulate from thanking people for something they’ve done, particularly when it’s not expected.
【小题1】Why do few train travelers usually listen to the announcements?| A．They usually feel sleepy. | B．They are absorbed in books. |
| C．The guard's voice is not clear. | D．The messages are unattractive. |
| A．They listened to it and smiled. | B．They seemed to get bored by it. |
| C．They listened to it with eyes closed. | D．They continued what they were doing. |
| A．Patient. | B．Surprised. | C．Worried. | D．Excited. |
| A．A boring train story | B．An intelligent guard |
| C．A lovely morning in Sydney | D．A different train announcement |
