Speed Reading — Level 2 — 200 wpm 

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A 30-second video from a railway company in Japan has made women angry. The Tokyu rail company wants women to stop putting on make-up while on trains. The video has the lines: "Women in the city are all beautiful. But they are ugly to see, at times….Please refrain from putting on make-up on the train." A Tokyu spokesman said the video is part one of an eight-part series aimed at educating passengers on train etiquette, rules and good manners on the trains. Tokyu said it had received a lot of positive feedback about the video and it would continue to show it.

Many women have criticized the video as being sexist. A woman tweeted: "I can understand if Tokyu's ad asks me to stop putting make-up on because powder might spill, but a train company has no right to tell me whether I look beautiful or ugly." Another wrote: "If Tokyu wants to clamp down on people who make others uncomfortable, it should [target] people with body odors, or people who smell of alcohol or vomit." A survey of passengers said women putting on make-up was eighth on a list of nuisances on trains. Other nuisances included people talking loudly on smartphones.

Back to the train etiquette lesson.

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