大學英語跨文化交際教程翻譯楊曉萍陶岳煉主編

1、Unit1 passage AThe English characterToo the 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 get

2、s 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 wha

3、t 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

4、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 di

5、d 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. This unwillingness to commun

6、icate 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 a

7、nd hospitality. 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. Cl

8、osely 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.

9、Self-praise is felt to be ill-bred. 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 gi

10、ve an answer like, “I'm not bad,“ or “Well, I'm very keen on tennis.“ This self-deprecation is typically English, and, mixed with their reserve, it often produces a sort of general air of indifference which appea

11、rs to foreigners difficult to understand and even irritating. The famous English sense of humor is similar. Its starting point is self-deprecation, and its great enemy is conceit. It’s ideal is the ability to

12、 laugh at oneself —at one's own faults, one's own failures and embarrassments, even at one's own ideals. The criticism, “He has no sense of humor,“ is very commonly heard in Britain, where

13、humor is so 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 crip

14、ple or a madman, a tragedy or an honorable failure. Sympathy or admiration for artistic skill are felt to be stronger than laughter. Like a sense of humor, sportsmanship is an English ideal which not all Engl

15、ishmen live up to. It must be realized that sport in its modern form is almost entirely a British invention. Boxing, association football, tennis and cricket 同幽默感一樣，運動員精神是英國式的理想，這一點并非所有的英國人都做得到。必須認識到，現代形式的