1、The British Character,吴娴,In your mind, what is an English like?,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
2、 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,conservative, 1th reserved,reserved: adj. (of a person or his character) slow to show feelings or express opinions, dispos
3、ition, 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 thing
4、s 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. Britai
5、n 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.,human:
6、 adj. showing the feelings, esp. those of kindness, which human beings have 有人性的，有人情味的 Example,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
7、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。,He seems quite human when you know him.,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-pr
8、aise 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, “Im not bad,” or “I think Im very good,” or “Well, Im very keen on tenn
9、is.” (i.e. Im very fond of it.) even if he had managed to reach the finals in last years local championships, he would say it in such a way as to suggest that it was only due to a piece of good luck, 2th modest,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
10、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。, 3th English sense of humor,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“ whe
11、n 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 s
12、elf-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, 4thThe Typical Englishman,Most of the British and others out of tune with Uncompromising character. Equivo
13、cal 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 al
14、oof 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 Shak
15、espeares plays on the Western and world culture had a tremendous impact. British Council is Europes oldest parliament, the United Kingdom is the worlds first country to complete the Industrial Revolution. Special geographical location and unique history of civilization makes the country the British
16、created the current character.,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 anythin
17、g 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,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，
18、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
19、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。,Like a sense of humor, this is an English ideal which not all Englishmen live up to.,live up to: put (ones 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 Its difficult to liv
20、e up to the principles of the Christian religion. He didnt live up to his reputation.,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。,English people have a strong love for sports. Soccer is one of most popular event and theres a large number of loyal fans. But their enthusiasm at times has turned them to viol
21、ence. Crowd disturbances often occurred. Among the football fans, British football fans are notorious(声名狼藉) all over the world.,die-hard football fan 铁杆球迷,Football hooligans,Discussion,Passage B Finding a Balance,Suggestion for getting along with English,personal questions like “How old are you?” or
22、 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 ta
23、lk 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 persons home, it is not polite to arrive early. Your hostess will be preparing for you, and will be most embarrassed if yo
24、u 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 considerati
25、on 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.,Thank you !,
