The British Character

许云飞 20080224 孙镜圆 20080235 王路 20081886 秦胜 20081861

In your mind, what is an English like? conservative polite modest humorous practical self-conceited sportsman ship cold

Because of geography, history, culture and other reasons, the various nationalities in the world, different from the other ethnic character. Britain is no exception, after several years of social change, they formed their own unique way of thinking and behavior, with people of other countries with different quality and characteristics. Sum up, there are the following character traits:

Typical English character sportsmanship English sense of humor The Typical Englishman reserved modest

★ 1th reserved conservative 1 The best-known quality of the English. And they are also noted for the character reserved: adj. (of a person or his character) slow to show feelings or express opinions, disposition, manner, etc. 寡言的；矜持的； conservative: adj. opposed to great or sudden change 保守的，守旧的; adj. & n.保守党(的)

The majority of British people are unwilling to accept new things but old-fashioned conservative ideology. British Conservative known around the world, the British view their way of doing things is the best and most reasonable. Some say the British need 20 to 40 years to accept the United States is a new thing, though a bit exaggerated remark, but not unreasonable. Britain has so far no common metric used in the world still use miles, until 1971 will be changed to decimal currency. Britain is a relatively small number of the world, one of the countries to maintain the monarchy and its conservative evident. When the invention of central air conditioning when the Americans, the British refused to be harmful to accept new things, continue to use the fireplace and electric stove.

He seems quite human when you know him. On the other hand, they are perfectly human behind their barrier of reserve, and may be quite pleased when a friendly stranger or foreigner succeeds for a time in breaking the barrier down. 另一方面，他们虽然外表上难以接近，但内心却有人情味，如果一个友善的陌生人或外国人打破沉默，英国人也可能非常高兴。 human: adj. showing the feelings, esp. those of kindness, which human beings have 有人性的，有人情味的 Example He seems quite human when you know him.

★ 2th modest Closely related to English reserve is English modesty. Within their hearts, the English are perhaps no less conceited than anybody else, but in their relations with others they value at least a show of modesty. Self-praise is felt to be impolite. If a person is, let us say, very good at tennis and someone asks him if he is a good player, he will seldom reply “Yes,” because people will think him conceited. He will probably give an answer like, “I’m not bad,” or “I think I’m very good,” or “Well, I’m very keen on tennis.” (i.e. I’m very fond of it.) even if he had managed to reach the finals in last year’s local championships, he would say it in such a way as to suggest that it was only due to a piece of good luck

1 ★ 3th English sense of humor The famous English sense of humor is similar. Its starting-point is self-dispraise, and its great enemy is conceit. Its object is the ability to laugh at oneself---at one’s own faults, one’s own failure, even at one’s own ideals. The criticism, “He has no sense of humor” is very commonly heard in Britain, where humor is highly prized. A sense of humor is an attitude to life rather than the mere ability to laugh at jokes. This attitude is never cruel or disrespectful or malicious. The English do not laugh at a cripple of a madman, or a tragedy or an honorable failure. 著名的英国式幽默感也与此相似，其出发点是自贬，其大敌是自负。其目的是能够自嘲——嘲笑自己的错误，自己的失败，甚至自己的理想。在英国，幽默感受到高度重视，经常听到“他没有幽默感”这样的评论。幽默感是对生活的一种态度，而不仅仅是一听到笑话就能够开怀大笑。这种态度决不是冷酷，决不是无礼，决不是恶毒。英国人从不嘲笑残疾人或精神病人，也从不会对一件悲惨的或虽败犹荣的事情幸灾乐祸。

British humor and the difference between American humor British humor is world-famous. And the very full, American after exaggerating laugh, British than just point "smile" when you say nothing at all. American sitcoms comedy from family and friends, often between "" (spitting), British drama dialogue is through the body and facial expressions to reflect Gang, Mr. Bean is one of the typical. Most of the British self-mocking humor. British good sense of humor, but are all self-mocking humor. They like to laugh at his mistakes, their weaknesses, their own embarrassment and so on. This British attitude is formed over the years, there is nothing malicious to others

★ 4th The Typical Englishman Most of the British and others out of tune with Uncompromising character. Equivocal character of the British the most obvious features, they do not want to speak more than others, and never talk about themselves, feelings are not exposed, but not glowing terms. Other countries is very difficult to understand the inner world of the British. Why do the British have a proud and aloof personality characteristics? Reasons. First, Britain is an island, cut off the English Channel it and the outside world, the British did not even see themselves as Europeans. Second, the British history of this nation are very proud of. Among them, Zhanmusiqin final version of the Bible and Shakespeare's plays on the Western and world culture had a tremendous impact. British Council is Europe's oldest parliament, the United Kingdom is the world's first country to complete the Industrial Revolution. Special geographical location and unique history of civilization makes the country the British created the current character.

quality of the British, and in particular of the English, is “reserved quality of the British, and in particular of the English, is “reserved.” A reserved person is one who does not talk very much to strangers, does not show much emotion, and seldom gets excited. It is difficult to get to know a reserved person: he never tells you anything about himself, and you may work with him for years without ever knowing where he lives, how many children he has, and what his interests are. English people tend to be like that.

★5th sportsmanship 1 Finally, sportsmanship. Like a sense of humor, this is an English ideal which not all Englishmen live up to. It must be realized that sport in this modern form is almost entirely a British invention. Boxing, rugby, football, hockey, tennis and cricket were all first organized and given rules in Britain. Rules are the essence of sport, and sportsmanship is the ability to practice a sport according to its rules, while also showing generosity to one’s opponent and good temper in defeat. The high pressure of modern international sport makes these ideals difficult to keep, but they are at least highly valued in Britain and are certainly achieved there more commonly than among more excitable peoples. Moreover, sportsmanship as an ideal is applied to life in general this is proved by the number of sporting terms used in ordinary speech. Everybody talks of “fair play” and “playing the game” or “playing fair.” Borrowed from boxing, “straight from the shoulder” is used to describe a well-aimed, strong criticism and “below the belt” is used to describe an unfair one. One of the most elementary rules of life is “never hit a man when he’s down”---in other words, never take advantage of a person’s misfortune. English schoolboys often show this sense of sportsmanship to a surprisingly high degree in their relations with each other.

最后再说说体育运动风范。就象幽默感一样，这也是英国人的理想，尽管不是每个英国人都能做到这一点。我们应该认识到，现代形式的体育运动几乎都是英国人的发明。拳击、橄榄球、足球、曲棍球、网球和板球都是源于英国，并且首先在英国制订出比赛规则。比赛规则反映了体育运动的本质，具有体育运动风范就是能够按照体育运动规则进行比赛，同时又能对对手宽大为怀，失败时也能心平气和。现代国际体育运动的巨大压力使得这些理想目标很难保持，但在英国这些理想目标至少还能得到高度的重视，而且与那些容易激动的民族相比，英国人在达到这些理想目标方面做得更好。此外，体育运动风范作为理想准则也适用于日常生活。这一点可以通过日常会话中用到的许多体育用语得到证实。每个人都会谈到“公平比赛”、“遵守规则”或者“公平竞争”。成语“直接出击”起源于拳击运动，用来表示一针见血而又措辞严厉的批评。“击打对方腰带以下的部分”则用来表示不公正的批评。生活的基本规则之一是“决不打已经倒在地上的人”，也就是说，决不乘人之危。在英国，这种体育运动风范常常在中小学的男生相处时高度地表现出来。

It’s difficult to live up to the principles of the Christian religion. Like a sense of humor, this is an English ideal which not all Englishmen live up to. 和幽默感一样，这也是一种英国式的理想品质，尽管并非每个英国人都能做到这点。 live up to: put (one’s faith, principles, etc.) into practice; reach the standard that may be expected 实行(信仰，主义等)；达到预期的标准 Examples It’s difficult to live up to the principles of the Christian religion. He didn’t live up to his reputation.

die-hard football fan 铁杆球迷 Football hooligans English people have a strong love for sports. Soccer is one of most popular event and there’s a large number of loyal fans. But their enthusiasm at times has turned them to violence. Crowd disturbances often occurred. Among the football fans, British football fans are notorious(声名狼藉) all over the world.

Discussion When you meet with an Englishman, how to get along with him? Passage B Finding a Balance

Suggestion for getting along with English personal questions like “How old are you?” or even “What is your name?” are not easily asked. Questions like “Where did you buy your watch?” or “What is your salary?” are almost impossible. Similarly, conversation in Britain is in general quiet and restrained and loud speech is considered ill-bred(缺乏教养的). It is always perfectly all right to talk about the weather in Britain: everyone does it, and although it is usually just a way of maintaining small talk, it is a key aspect of British life.

If you are invited into a person's home, it is not polite to arrive early. Your hostess will be preparing for you, and will be most embarrassed if you arrive before she is quite ready. Ten minutes late is excellent. Half an hour late is excessive and requires apologies. On the whole British habits of politeness are very informal. All politeness is based on the elementary rule of showing consideration for others, and acknowledging the consideration they show to you.

British people do not readily ask each other to do anything that would involve real inconvenience: they prefer to wait for such service to be offered, rather than ask for it. English people attach importance to action instead of empty talk. So they are called Man of Action.(行动之人) They also like doing things based on their own experience and which makes them conservative.

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