I had just arrived in this Asian country for a one-year teaching position. One day, I took the subway to visit some ancient palaces and temples in the downtown. The following account of what happened to me has taught me much about culture ____1____.
Since all the ____2____ were taken, I stood. Suddenly, I felt someone pulling on my bag. ____3____ I probably was in someone’s way, I moved over slightly. But in one quick motion(动作), I felt my bag removed from my back, and in a flash it was ____4____. I turned around to see who the thief was. I looked at the people standing behind me, but didn’t see my bag or anyone ____5____. My heart sank and I began to ____6____.
I glanced around the car only to find directly across from me was an elderly lady, and sitting on her lap was my ____7____. I tried to get it back from her lap. But as I began to ____8____ it up, she quickly grabbed(抓住) it back and held onto it. I looked around at the people standing beside me, and those sitting beside her, but no one took any ____9____ of the situation. Trying not to cause a(an) ____10____, I tried to negotiate through gestures. I used my hands as best as I could, but she ____11____ my requests for my bag and pointed to my back. She picked up my bag, showing how ____12____ it was. I finally began to understand. She was holding my bag to ____13____ me.
At the next stop, a middle-aged woman got on the crowded subway. Another elderly woman sitting down took her bag, ____14____ it on her lap. They didn’t talk; ____15____ this older woman was more than pleased to sit with this stranger’s bag on her lap throughout her journey.
As the subway pulled into the main downtown station and I was getting ready to get off, the woman ____16____ handed me back my bag. But ____17____ I had a chance to thank her, she had disappeared into the crowd.
Sadly, this considerate custom was more ____18____ to me than if I had been robbed. Everyone back home had heard of being robbed-that was ____19____ city behavior-but having a stranger hold onto someone’s bag out of ____20____, in a city of twelve million people-that was truly unusual.