There is a time when, if a lady got onto a crowded bus or train, a gentleman would immedia

tely stand up and【31】her his seat. No more, though. Today a gentleman will probably look out of the window, or, if he feels a bit guilty, hide behind his newspaper. Either way, the lady will have to stand【32】someone else gets off.

You can't entirely【33】men for this change in manners, though. The days are gone when women could be referred to【34】the weaker sex without causing【35】. A whole generation of women has grown up demanding【36】with men, not just equality in jobs or education, 【37】in social attitudes. Hold a door open for some women and you are【38】to get an angry lecture on treating women as inferiors, unable to open doors for【39】Take a girl out for a meal and she' 11 probably【40】on paying her share of the bill, though on【41】thoughts perhaps that's not such a bad idea.

It's no wonder, then, that men have given up some of the automatic gestures of politeness and【42】which they used to show towards women. On the other【43】, automatically made politeness is perhaps slowly being【44】by true consideration for the needs and feelings of women, so that men can see women as equal human beings, 【45】than as sex-objects or attractive properties.

(31)

A．provide

B．offer

C．hand

D．reserve