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Olympics curbs Beijingers’ spitting, queue-jumping: report 北京奧運導正民眾吐痰、插隊惡習

People shop off of a woman’s cart in a local neighbourhood in Beijing on Oct. 29, 2008. 十月二十九日，在北京當地某街坊上，民眾向一名三輪車女攤販採買物品。 照片：法新社 PHOTO: AFP

Hosting the Olympics has made Beijing’s rough-edged citizens more civil, with social problems such as spitting and queue-jumping on the decline, state media reported.

A bizarre “civic index” that claims to record minute changes in Beijingers’ manners has risen to 82.68 on a scale of 100, up 10 points from last year, the China Daily reported.

Based on a post-Olympics survey of more than 13,200 people and observations at more than 300 public venues, it found just 0.75 percent of respondents “spat wherever and whenever they wanted,” down from 2.5 percent last year, it said.

“The most significant improvement was in the category of spitting,” the newspaper said of the latest index, devised by Beijing’s Renmin University.

Last year, in a speech marking the 12-month countdown to the Games, China’s chief Olympic organizer warned the manners of Beijing residents could leave the host nation with egg on its face.

“We must carry out a campaign for a civilized environment and thoroughly resolve spitting, dumping of garbage and other uncivilized behavior as over four billion people will be watching Beijing,” he said.

These campaigns have included making one day a month a “no queue-jumping” day, while fines for spitting have been dished out and beggars kicked off the streets.

Another day each month was designated “Seat-Giving Day” to encourage people to give up their seats on trains and buses to those in greater need.

Following the campaign, queue-jumping was down to 0.67 percent, from an earlier 1.5 percent, the index found. Littering and seat giving also apparently improved.

(AFP)

中國國營媒體報導，主辦北京奧運已使粗魯無禮的北京市民變得較文明，吐痰和插隊等社會問題也慢慢減少。

《中國日報》報導，一份特別記錄北京市民公共行為改變的「文明指數」已提昇至八十二點六八分（滿分為一百分），比去年高了十分。

報導指出，根據奧運賽後一項在三百多個公眾場合觀察、訪問了一萬三千兩百多人的調查發現，只有百分之零點七五的受訪者會「隨時隨地亂吐痰」，比去年的百分之二點五低。

報導中提到，這項由北京人民大學策劃的最新指數調查指出：「吐痰是改善幅度最大的項目。」

去年，在北京奧運倒數十二個月的一場演講中，中國奧組委主席就曾警告說，北京市民的壞習慣可能會讓主辦國顏面無光。

他說：「我們必須推行文明環境運動，徹底解決北京市民吐痰、隨手亂丟垃圾和其他不文明的行為，因為屆時將有超過四十億人看著北京。」

這一系列運動包括每個月有一天「不插隊日」、對吐痰者祭出罰款政策，及將乞丐趕出大街。

每個月還另外訂定一天「讓座日」，鼓勵民眾在火車和公車上禮讓座位給更需要的人。

該指數反映，這項文明運動讓北京市民的插隊比例，從早先的一點五個百分點，降至零點六七個百分點。亂丟垃圾和讓座方面也有顯著的改善。

（法新社／翻譯：袁星塵）

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字 1. bizarre adj. 奇異的 (qi2 yi4 de5)，古怪的 (gu3 guai4 de5) 例: Sarah arrived at school wearing a bizarre purple sweater. (莎拉穿了一件古怪的紫色毛衣到學校。) 2. category n. 類目 (lei4 mu4) 例: There were ten questions in the first category. (第一個類目中有十個問題。) 3. uncivilized adj. 野蠻的 (ye3 man2 de5)，不文明的 (bu4 wen2 ming2 de5) 例: The drunken students received warnings for their uncivilized behavior at the party. (那群在派對上喝醉酒的學生因粗魯行為遭到告誡。) 4. apparently adv. 顯然地 (xian3 ran2 de5)，似乎 (si4 hu1) 例: Apparently Josh and Lisa will get married in the spring. (看樣子喬許和麗莎明年春天就會互訂終身了。)

READING COMPREHENSION閱讀測驗 1. Which of these problems is NOT mentioned in the article? a. Drink driving. b. Spitting. c. Queue jumping. 2. Who carried out the survey? a. The China Daily. b. Renmin University. c. The article doesn’t say. 3. According to the article, has behavior improved since last year? a. Yes, it has. b. No, it hasn’t. c. The article doesn’t say. 4. Which problem behavior improved the most? a. Spitting. b. Queue jumping. c. Dumping garbage.

SAY WHAT? 說說看 egg on your face 顏面掃地 If you have egg on your face, you are embarrassed as a result of your foolish actions. In the article, bad manners threatened to embarrass Beijing during the Olympics. For example: “Leroy confidently told everyone that it wouldn’t rain at the wedding, so he refused to take an umbrella. However, he ended up with egg on his face when heavy rain ruined his new suit.” 「egg on your face」意指你因為自己愚蠢的行為而難堪丟臉。文章中提到，北京市民的壞習慣可能讓北京在奧運期間顏面無光。 例如：「勒魯伊信心滿滿地告訴所有人婚禮那天不會下雨，所以他不肯帶傘。結果他新買的西裝被大雨毀了，顏面盡失」。

OUT LOUD 對話練習 Wallace: I’m meeting my girlfriend’s parents for the first time this weekend, and I want to make a good impression. Any suggestions? Jeff: Well, it’s probably a good idea to take some kind of gift for her mother. Wallace: And what about the old man? Should I get him a gift? Jeff: No, just be on your best behavior, and remember your table manners. Wallace: Thanks a lot. I’ll let you know how it goes. 華勒斯：我這週末第一次和我女友爸媽見面，我希望能讓他們留下好印象。你有什麼建議嗎？ 傑夫：唔，帶點禮物去送她媽媽效果應該不錯。 華勒斯：那她老爸呢？我該買份禮物給他嗎？ 傑夫：不用，只要表現出你最得體的一面就好，記得用餐禮儀 華勒斯：多謝啦，我再告訴你結果如何。 old man 老爸 When you talk about the old man, you’re referring to somebody’s father. For example: “Xavier’s old man was an actor when he was younger.” 當你和人說到「old man」時，指的就是某人的老爸。例如：「柴維爾他老爸年輕時是個演員」。

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