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7 ‘Mis’ Communication

Warm Up

● How do you communicate with people?
● What are the different ways in which you communicate with others?

● Do you prefer to speak or listen? Why?

Reading skills

One fine day, which seemed like every other day, a bus driver went to the bus garage,
started his bus, and drove off along his designated route. Usually, the bus driver never had
any problem with his passengers, but he was about to find out that this was not going to

be one of those days. This day will be different and will change his life forever. At the first
couple of stops, everything was as
usual, a few people got on, a few
got off and things went generally

well. However, at one of the last
stops, a big hulk of a guy got on - six
feet tall, built like a wrestler, arms

hanging down on to the ground. He
glared at the driver and said, “Big
John doesn’t need to pay!” and sat

down at the back. The driver was
so shocked that he just sat there
speechless wondering why this

happened and what would happen
if he stood up to the bully?

While thinking about this, he also remembered that he was only five feet three, thin and
without any self-defence skills. He knew it wasn’t a smart idea to argue with Big John.

At the same time he wasn’t happy about the whole situation. The next day, the same thing
happened. Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the

next day, and the one after that and so forth. This really bothered the bus driver, who started

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