Question

The English, as a race, are very different in many ways from all other nationalities, including their closest neighbors, the French, the Belgians and the Dutch. It is claimed that living on an island separated from the rest of Europe has much to do with it. Whatever the reasons are, it may be fairly stated that the Englishman has developed many attitudes and habits which distinguish him from other nationalities.
Broadly speaking, the Englishman is a quiet, shy, reserved person who is fully relaxed only among people he knows well. In the presence of strangers or foreigners he often seems restrained, even embarrassed. You have only to witness a city train any morning or evening to see the truth of this. Serious-looking businessmen and women sit reading their newspapers or having a light sleep in a corner, and no one speaks. In fact, to do so would seem most unusual. An Englishman, pretending to be giving advice to overseas visitors, once suggested, “On entering a railway carriage, shake hands with all the passengers.” Needless to say, he was not being serious. There is an unwritten but clearly understood code of behavior which, if broken, makes the person immediately suspected.
In many parts of the world it is quite normal to show openly extremes of enthusiasm, emotion, excitement, etc, often accompanied by appropriate gesture. The Englishman is somewhat different. Of course, an Englishman feels no less deeply than anyone of a different nationality, but he tends to display his feelings far less. This is reflected in his use of language. Imagine a man commenting on the great beauty of a young girl. A more emotional man might describe her state “Oh, she is a goddess”, whereas an Englishman might just say “Oh, she’s all right.” An Englishman who has seen a highly successful and enjoyable film recommends it to a friend by commenting, “It’s not bad you know”, or on seeing some very unusual scenery he might convey (表达) his pleasure by saying, “Nice, yes, very nice.” The overseas visitor must not be disappointed by this apparent lack of interest and involvement. Instead, he must realize that “all right,” “not bad,” and “nice,” very often have the sense of “first-class,” “excellent,” “beautiful”. This unique style of language use is particularly common in England, and is known as restrained statement.
【小题1】According to the passage, the English are different from other nationalities in _______.

A．habits

B．attitudes

C．character

D．all of the above

【小题2】The underlined word “restrained” in the second paragraph probably means “_______”. 

A．calm and controlled	B．polite and friendly
C．nervous and quiet	D．silent and kind

【小题3】In Britain, if you don’t want other people to think you are strange, you’d better _______.

A．talk with others as much as possible

B．behave just like the English do

C．say nothing about yourself

D．shake hands with everyone you meet

【小题4】If an Englishman says “all right”, it may mean “_______”.  

A．not bad

B．correct

C．quite right

D．wonderful

【小题5】From the passage, we can infer that an Englishman _______.

A．doesn’t like to show his feelings so much

B．has less emotion than people of other nationalities

C．finds it easy to express his emotion

D．likes to have a joke with strangers

Answer 1

【小题1】D
【小题2】A
【小题3】B
【小题4】D
【小题5】A

解析试题分析：文章介绍了英国人的兴趣，，爱好，行为等各方面的特征。
【小题1】D 细节题。根据文章第一段第5行developed many attitudes and habits which distinguish him from other nationalities.说明AB两项包括在内。根据文章第二段说明英国人的性格也一其它国家的人不一样，C也包括在内。故D正确。
【小题2】A 推理题。根据上一句Broadly speaking, the Englishman is a quiet, shy, reserved person who is fully relaxed only among people he knows well.说明英国人一直都很安静，害羞，保守，只有熟悉的人在一起的时候，英国人才会比较放松，在陌生人在场的时候，那么就会比较平静和内敛，故A正确。
【小题3】B 推理题。根据文章第一段最后部分，可知所谓入乡随俗，要被英国人接受就要像英国人那样去做。
【小题4】D 推理题。根据第二段imagine a man commenting on the great beauty of a young girl. A more emotional man might describe her state “Oh, she is a goddess”, whereas an Englishman might just say “Oh, she’s all right.”说明英国人很少用特别夸张的词去形容人,all right就相当于wonderful，故D正确。
【小题5】A 推理题。根据第二段第四行but he tends to display his feelings far less.说明英国人不喜欢过的的表现出自己的感觉，故A正确。
考点：考查西方文化类短文
点评：本文是关于英国人的性格特点的短文，特别注意文章的第一段，阅读时要注意细节，把重要的点做好标志，可以提高效率。