【TheEnglisharefamousfortheirmanners.Thephrase“Mannersmakeththeman”wascoinedbyEnglishmanWilliamofWykehambackin1324butthey’rejustasimportanttoday.Booksarewrittenonthesubjectadvicecolumnsinmagaz】
TheEnglisharefamousfortheirmanners.Thephrase“Mannersmakeththeman”wascoinedbyEnglishmanWilliamofWykehambackin1324butthey’rejustasimportanttoday.Booksarewrittenonthesubjectadvicecolumnsinmagazinestellpeoplehowtobehaveand“finishingschools”stillexisttoensurethatyounggirlsbecomeyoung“ladies”.
ThebestexampleofEnglishmannersisintheirmasteryoftheartofformingaqueue.ItisapopularjokeinEngland(thelandofsportingfailures)tosay“ifonlyqueuingwasanOlympicsportwe’dwinhandsdown.”NooneknowsexactlyhowandwhenitstartedbutqueuingplaysanimportantroleintheEnglishsocialmake-up.Schoolchildrenaretaughttoqueueforroll-callassemblyandlunchandEnglishpeopleacrossthelandformorderlyqueuesatshopsbankscinemasandbus-stopseveryday.TheEnglishobviouslyaren’ttheonlypeoplewhoqueuebuttheyseemtodoitbetterthananyoneelse.Asonevisitorsaid“IhavetravelledacrossEuropetheMiddleandFarEastandnowherehaveIseenthesingle-filequeueswhichareformedinEngland.”
TheEnglisharealsofamouslypolitewhenitcomestolanguage.WhereasmanyothernotionsaremoredirectintheircommunicationtheEnglishpreferamoreindirectformofaskingforthings.ForexampleanAmericanwhowantstotalktoacolleaguemightsay“Gotaminute?”;howeveranEnglishpersonwilloftenuseamoreindirectmeansmightofrequestingthechat“Sorrytobotheryoubutwouldyoupossiblyhaveaminuteorsotohaveaquickchatifyoudon’tmindplease?”
TheEnglishalsolovetoapologizeforthings.Whensqueezingpastsomeonepeoplesay“sorry”.Andtheywillapologizeifyoubumpintothem“whoops!Sorry!Myfault.”Infactnooneseemstosay“sorry”asmuchastheEnglish:“sorryI’mlate./SorryIforgottocallyoulastnight./I’msorryyoudidn’tgetthee-mail.”Andsoon.Theyalsoliketouse“please”and“thankyou”alot.Inashoptheywillsay“I’dlikeapacketofcrispplease.Thanks.”Britishstudentsthanktheirlecturesandbossesoftenthanktheiremployeesfordoingtheirjobs.
小题1:Whydoes“finishingschools”stillexisttohelpyounggirlsbecome“ladies”?A.BecausetheEnglishmindtheirmannersverymuch.B.BecausetheEnglishparentswanttomarrytheirda