The English Reserve and Politeness 英国人的谨慎.doc

The English Reserve and Politeness 英国人的谨慎 It seems to many people that the British are extremely polite and difficult to make friends with. Hopefully the following passage will help you to have a better understanding of the British character. 在许多人看来，英国人极为礼貌，同他们交朋友很难。但愿下列文字能够帮助你更好地了解英国人的性格特点。　To other Europeans, the best known quality of the British is reserve. 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. If they are making a journey by bus, they will do their best to find an empty seat; if by train, an empty compartment. If they have to share the compartment with a stranger, they may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If a conversation does start, 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. 对于其他欧洲人来说，英国人最著名的特点是“谨慎”。一个谨慎的人不太会和陌生人聊天，不会流露出太多的情感，并且很少会兴奋。要了解一个谨慎的人并非易事；他从不告诉你有关他自己的任何事，也许你和他工作了几年，却连他住在哪儿，有几个孩子，兴趣是什么，都不知道。英国人就有类似的倾向。如果乘公共汽车去旅行，他们会尽量找一个没人坐的位子；如果是乘火车，他们会找一个没人的 单间。如果他们不得不与陌生人共用一个单间时，那么即使火车驶出了很多英里，他们也不会开口交谈。一旦谈起来的话，他们不会轻易问及像“你几岁？”或者甚至“你叫什么名字？”等私人问题。像“你的手表是在哪儿买的？”或者“你的收入是多少？”这样的问题几乎不可想象。同样，在英国，人们交谈时一般声音都很轻、很有节制，大声谈话会被视为没有教养。This unwillingness to communicate with others is an unfortunate quality in some ways, since it tends to give the impression of coldness, and it is true that the English (except perhaps in the North) are not noted for their generosity and hospitality. On the other hand, they are perfectly human behind their barrier of reserve, and may be quite pleased w