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their friends except seeing them after a long interval or saying good-bye before a long journey.
Snobbery is not so common in England today as it was at the beginning of the 19th century. It still exists, and advertisers 11 know how to use it in order to sell their goods. The advertisers are very clever in their use of snobbery. Motocar manufactures, for example, advertise the colour of their cars as
“Embassy Black” or “Balmoral Stone”. Embassy black is plain, ordinary black, but the name suggests diplomats and all the social importance that surrounds them, and this is what the snobs need.
The British people are prudent and careful about almost everything. Their lawns are closely cropped, their flowerbeds primly cultivated, and their trees neatly pruned. Everything is orderly. Drinks are carefully measured, seats in a cinema are carefully assigned (even if the theatre is empty you are required to sit in the seat assigned to you), closing hours rigorously observed.
A traditional that is rooted not only in their own soul, but in the minds of the rest of the world is the devotion of the English to animals. Animals are protected by law. If, for instance, any one leaves a cat to starve in an empty house while he goes for his holiday, he can be sent to prison. There are special dog’s cemeteries. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded half a century before its counterpart for the prevention of cruelty to children.
Most people in Britain work a five-day week, from Monday to Friday; schools, colleges and universities are also closed on Saturdays and Sundays. As
Friday comes along, as people leave work they say to each other, “Have a nice week-end”. Then on Monday morning they ask, “Did you have a nice weekend?”
On Sunday mid-morning most British people indulge in some fairly light activities such as gardening, washing the car, shelling peas or chopping mint for Sunday lunch, or taking the dog for a walk. Another most popular pre-lunch activity consists of a visit to a “pub” – either a walk to the “local”, or often nowadays a drive to a more pleasant “country pub” if one lives in a built-up area. The national drink an England is beer, and the “pub”, where Englishmen go to drink to, is a peculiarly English institution.
Much leisure time is spent in individualistic pursuits, of which the most popular is gardening. Most English people love gardens, their own above all, and this is probably one reason why so many people prefer to live in houses rather than flats.
The British people are the world’s greatest tea drinkers. They drink a quarter of all the tea grown in the world each year. Many of them drink tea on at least eight different occasions during the day.
The working people of Britain have had a long tradition of democracy, not so much in the sense of creating formal institutions, but in the active sense of popular cooperation to uphold the will of the people.
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Ex.1 Translate the following words and word-combinations and memorize them:
on the outer edge, inhabitants, superior, aloof, in earlier centuries, leading trading nation, on a national scale, attitude to monarchy, individualistic pursuits, on different occasions, to uphold the will of the people, the land of law and order, romantic delusions, notorious, the land of brick fences and stone walls, to be embedded, thick draperies, advertisers, pub.
Ex.2 Find English equivalents in the text:
1.Жители острова считают свою страну центром мира.
2.Британцы обычно смотрят на иностранцев с презрением.
3.В Великобритании существует два народа с совершенно разными взглядами и характерами.
4.Консерватизм англичан может быть подтвержден их отношением к монархии.
5.Британия считается страной, где царит закон и порядок.
6.Англичане не позволяют романтическим настроениям вводить их в заблуждение.
7.Англичане редко обмениваются рукопожатиями, за исключением, пожалуй, случаев знакомства.
8.Рекламодатели очень умело играют на снобизме англичан.
9.Большинство британцев работают пять дней в неделю – с понедельника по пятницу.
10.Традиционный напиток в Англии – пиво, а «паб», где они его пьют, является исключительно английским заведением.
Ex.3 Insert prepositions where necessary:
1.Great Britain is an island … the outer edge of the European continent.
2.The British look … foreigners …. General …. Contempt and think that nothing is … well done else where as … their own country.
3.Part … the British sense …. Law and orderliness is a love … precedent.
4.They are infatuated … common sense.
5.Motocar manufactures advertise … the color … their cars … “Embassy black” or “Balmoral Stone”.
6.Most people in Britain work … a five-day week, … Monday … Friday.
Ex.4 Answer the questions:
1.Why do some British people tend to regard their own community as the center of the world.
2.What is the attitude of British people to their monarchy?
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3.How do you understand the British Snobbery? Give some examples.
4.Can you give some examples of British people’s carefulness and prudent ness?
5.What is the English people’s attitude to animals? What law do they have?
6.How and where do Britons usually spend their week-ends?
7.Do you know any activity that is supposed to be the British tradition? Give as many examples as you can.
Ex.5 Point for discussion:
1.The British sense for law and order is well known. What do you think about the Briton’s habit to do everything in a certain way? Is it a good habit? What should parents and teachers do to make their children prudent and careful? What is your opinion?
2.The British people are known as superior snobbish, aloof, hypocritical and unsociable. What do you think about English vanity and arrogance? Can you give any examples borrowed from books and films characterizing the British people?
3.Everybody knows about the devotion of the English to animals. It’s also known about their cruelty to children. What do you think about all of this? Do you understand it? How can you explain such situation?
Ex.6 Make up the plan of the text and retell it.
The national character of the English has been very differently described, but most commentators agree over one quality, which they describe as fatuous self-satisfaction, serene sense of superiority, or insular pride. English patriotism is based on a deep sense of security. Englishmen as individuals may have been insecure, threatened with the loss of a job, unsure of themselves, or unhappy in many ways; but as a nation they have been for centuries secure, serene in their national successes. They have not lived in a state of hatred of their neighbours, as Frenchmen or Germans have often lived. The national sense of security, hardly threatened by the Armada, or by Napoleon, or by the First World War, has been greatly weakened by the Second World War and by the invention of the atomic bomb.
Many books have been written – even more, perhaps, by Frenchmen, Americans, Germans, and other foreigners than by Englishmen – on English traits, English ways of life, and the English character. Their authors are by no means always in agreement, but they tend to point out what seems to them puzzles, contrasts, in the way the English behave. A few of these contrasts may serve to sum up how the world looks at the English.
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First, there is the contrast between the unity the English display in a crisis, their strong sense for public order, indeed for conformity, and their extraordinary toleration of individual eccentricities. Germans are usually astounded by what they regard as the Englishman’s lack of respect for authority and discipline. Frenchmen are often puzzled by the vehemence of English political debates, by the Hyde Park public orator, and similar aspects of English life, which in their own country would seem signs of grave political disturbance. This sort of contrast has led to the common belief held by foreigners, and indeed by Englishmen themselves, that they are a most illogical people, always preferring practical compromises to theoretical exactness.
Second, there is the contrast between English democracy, the English sense of the dignity and importance of the individual, and the very great social and economic inequalities that have hitherto characterized English life. There has recently been some tendency to allow greater social equality. But Victorian and Edwardian England – which foreigners still think of as the typical England – did display extremes of riches and poverty, and draw an almost caste line between ladies and gentlemen and those not ladies and gentlemen.
Third, there is the contrast between the reputation of the English as hardheaded practical men – the “nation of shopkeepers” – and as men of poetry – the countrymen of Shakespeare and Shelley. The English tradition in philosophy has always been realistic and hostile to mysticism; yet the English look down on the French as narrow rationalists. The apparent coldness of Englishmen and their reserve has been almost universally noted by foreigners; but foreigners also confess that they find English reserve not unpleasant, and that once one gets to know an Englishman he turns out to be a very companionable fellow.
fatuous – пустой, бессмысленный
serene – безмятежный, спокойный, уверенный insular – островной, ограниченный
Аrmada – «Непобедимая армада» (военный флот, направленный в 1588 г. испанским королем Филиппом II против Англии и потерпевший поражение)
by no means – нисколько, ни в коем случае conformity – соответствие, согласованность extraordinary toleration – исключительная терпимость
eccentricity – эксцентричность, странность, оригинальность astound – изумлять(ся), поражаться
vehemence – страстность, горячность
signs of grave political disturbance – признаки серьезного политического беспорядка
hitherto – до настоящего времени, до сих пор
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hard-headed – искушенный, упрямый
reserve – сдержанность, скрытность, осторожность confess – признавать(ся)
Ex.1 Translate word-combinations from the text and memorize the English equivalents:
быть значительно ослабленным в результате Второй Мировой войны и изобретения атомной бомбы, бояться потерять работу, жить в постоянной ненависти к соседям, исключительная терпимость, быть в замешательстве, «нация торговцев», особая холодность англичан и их сдержанность всегда отличается иностранцами.
Ex.2 Use dictionary and explain the meaning of these words:
fatuous, gentleman, patriotism, mysticism, neighbours, character, century, discipline, tolerant, orator, poverty, dignity.
Ex.3 Give antonyms:
success, individual, hate, poverty, weak, confess, agreement, reserve, unity, crisis, discipline.
Ex.4 Ask questions to the underlined words.
1.English patriotism is based on a deep sense of security. (3)
2.This national sense of security has been greatly weakened by the WW II (Second World War). (2)
3.Frenchmen are often puzzled by the vehemence of English political debates.
(2)
4.Many books on English ways of life were written abroad, by Frenchmen, Americans, Germans and other foreigners. (3)
5.The English tradition in philosophy has always been realistic and hostile. (2)
6.Foreigners confess that they find English reserve not pleasant. (2)
Ex.5 Answer the following questions:
1.What are the main features of the English character?
2.Why do you think so many books about Englishmen are written by foreigners?
3.Do you like reserved people? Why?
4.When can you say that a man is a real gentlemen?
5.What typically English features can the reader find in Jane Ayre’s and Miss Marple’s characters?