Unit6_passage_english_b

A standard criticism of <1>_________ research is that it goes to great lengths to prove what most people with common sense already know. Without exactly taking sides for or against that criticism, I want to describe a <2>_______ exercise that might seem to <3>_______ it----except that, for me and a classmate (and maybe for some who read this account), the experience made a common claim come alive.

During spring break from a local college, my friend and I went downtown to shop. First, however, we made ourselves <4>_________ unrecognizable to our friends and even to our families. We wore clothing <5>_________ <6>__________ for the weather, clean but not ironed, clearly not the styles worn by most visitors to the area. We carried plastic bags of nameless possessions. Both of us were slightly <8>______. My friend wore a faded cotton shirt over a T-shirt and a <10>_______ skirt over sweat <11>_______. I wore a wool hat that <12>________ my hair and an <13>_________ coat and glasses with <14>_________ that <15>_________ on.

The aim was to look like street people and to observe what difference that made in the way other people responded to us----whether the appearance of <16>________ would invite prejudice on us. We were also prepared to act out some <18>________unusual behaviors that might speak of some <19>________ problems, without appearing seriously disturbed or dangerous. As it turned out, there was no need for <20>_______; people turned us off or tuned us out on the basis of appearance alone.

Our first stop (after <21>______ our cars near the railroad tracks) was in the <22>______ store of a local <23>______, where we politely asked access to a bathroom and were refused. Next we entered the lobby of a large hotel, where we asked for a coffee shop and a bathroom. The doorman said, \"You must go to the twentieth floor.\" We weren't up to trying our act at an <24>_______ restaurant, so we <25>_______ around the first floor and left. From there we went to a <26>________ shop, where we more or less <27>_______ with the customers, and then on to the <30>_______ stores and coffee shops during the lunch hour.

It was prejudice time. Some of the children we encountered stared, pointed, and laughed; adults gave us long, doubting looks. Clerks in stores followed our track to watch our every move. In a <31>________ a second assistant hurried to the side of the cashier, where they took my $2 check without asking for <32>__; it seemed worth that price to have us out the door. At one doorway a clerk physically blocked the entrance apparently to <33>_______ our <34>_______.

We had money to cover small purchases, and, apart from wearing <35>_________ clothing, we did nothing in any of these <36>_________ to draw attention to ourselves; we merely shopped quietly in our accustomed manner. At one establishment we did blow our cover when we ordered French rolls with two special coffees; that may have

been too far out of character for \"bag ladies\". Elsewhere we encountered <37>________, <38>_________, lack of trust, and <39>____ stares.

So what did we learn? Mostly what we expected, what everybody knows: People judge by appearances. Just looking poor brings with it prejudice, <40>__________ by <41>_______ of much of the social <42>______ most of us take for granted. Lacking the culturally acceptable <43>______ of belonging in this setting, we became, to a degree, objects, with less <44>________ <45>_______ as persons.

There was, however, one surprise----more accurately, a shock. It became clear most strongly at the shop I mentioned earlier, the one where a clerk <47>________ positioned herself in the entrance on seeing us. I had just noticed the place and had turned to my companion, saying, \"I've never seen this store. Let's go in.\" She looked at me with alarm: \"You're not really going there, are you?\"

I knew what she meant and shared her feeling. The place felt out of bounds for us. In a very few hours, we found ourselves accepting and <49>______ the <50>_________ and prejudiced judgments of ourselves that <51>________ among the people we met; we <52>________ ourselves. <53>________, it's a good lesson to learn, maybe especially for <54>_________.