The English Character The English, as a race, have the reputation of being very different from all other nationalities, including their closest neighbors, the French, Belgians and Dutch. It is claimed that living on an island separated from the rest of Europe has much to do with it. Whatever the reasons it may be fairly stated that the Englishman has developed many attitudes and habits which distinguish him from other nationalities. Broadly speaking, the Englishman is a quiet, shy, reserved person who is fully relaxed only among people he knows well. In the presence of strangers or foreigners he often seems inhibited, even embarrassed. You have only to witness a commuter train any morning or evening to see the truth of this. Serious-looking businessmen and women sit reading their newspapers or dozing in a corner; no one speaks. In fact, to do so would seem most unusual. An English wit, pretending to be giving advice to overseas visitors, once suggested, "On entering a railway compartment shake hands with all the passengers." Needless to say, he was not being serious. There is an unwritten but clearly understood code of behavior which, if broken, makes the person immediately the object of suspicion. It is a well-known fact that the English have an obsession with their weather and that, given half a chance, they will talk about it at length. Some people argue that it is because weather defies forecast and hence is a source of interest and speculation to everyone. This may be so. Certainly Englishmen cannot have much faith in the meteorological experts--the weathermen--who, after promising fine, sunny weather for the following day, are often proved wrong when an anti-cyclone over the Atlantic brings rainy weather to all districts. The man in the street seems to be as accurate--or as inaccurate-as the weathermen in his predictions. This helps to explain the seemingly odd sight of an Englishman leaving home on a bright, sunny, summer morning with a raincoat slung over his arm and an umbrella in his hand. So variable is the weather that by lunchtime it could be pouring. The overseas visitors may be excused for showing surprise at the number of references to weather that the English make to each other in the course of a single day. Very often conventional greetings are replaced by comments on the weather. "Nice day, isn't it?" "Beautiful!" may well be heard instead of "Good morning, how are you?" Although the foreigner may consider this exaggerated and comic, it is worthwhile pointing out that it could be used to his advantage. If he wants to start a conversation with an Englishman （or woman） but is at a loss to know where to begin, he could do well to mention the state of the weather. It is a safe subject which will provoke an answer from even the most reserved of Englishmen.In many parts of the world it is quite normal to show openly extremes of enthusiasm, emotion, passion etc., often accompanied by appropriate gestures. The Englishman is somewhat different. Of course, an Englishman feels no less deeply than any other nationality, but he tends to display his feelings far less. This is reflected in his use of language, imagine a man commenting on the great beauty of a young girl. Whereas a man of more emotional temperament might describe her as "an exquisite jewel", "divine", "precious", the Englishman will flatly state "Um, she's all right". An Englishman who has seen a highly successful and enjoyable film recommends it to a friend by commenting, "It's not bad, you know," or on seeing a breathtaking landscape he might convey his pleasure by saying, "Nice, yes, very nice." The overseas visitor must not be disappointed by this apparent lack of interest and involvement; he must realize that "all right", "no bad", and "nice", are very often used as superlatives with the sense of "first-class", "excellent", "beautiful". This special use of language, particularly common in English, is known as understatement.（ ） 1. If you want to start a conversation with an Englishwoman, you can begin your topic on anything but her age.
A、True
B、False
【正确答案】：B
【题目解析】：P98
