[英语]unit 1 The English Character 英国人的性格特征

高中英语必修5（外研版）Unit 1 British and American English知识点总结一、重点词汇·原文再现We have really everything in common with America nowadays，except of course，language.当然，除了语言外，如今我们确实在所有方面都和美国一样。

·基本用法have...in common 在...有共同之处（宾语可以为sth./nothing/little/a little/ a lot/much等）Though they are twins，they have nothing in common.虽然是双胞胎，他们却毫无共同之处。

To my surprise，I found I had a lot in common with this stranger.令我吃惊的是，我发现自己和这个陌生人有许多共同点。

·知识拓展相关短语1. in common with sb./sth. 与……一样In common with other students, Tom is often late for school.和其他学生一样，汤姆也经常迟到。

2. common people 平民百姓3. common sense 常识词义辨析: common/ordinary/usual/normal1. common 常见的，尤其指许多人或事物所共同具备的。

Rabbits and foxes are common in Britain.兔子和狐狸在英国很常见。

2. ordinary 普通的，指平常的，平淡无奇的。

It was a very ordinary day today.今天是很平常的一天。

3. usual 多指习惯性的、遵循常规的、一贯如此的。

I'm afraid I overslept and missed my usual bus.很遗憾我睡过头了，误了我通常坐的那班公共汽车。

A question of character英国人的秉性The government is right that parenting matters, but “nudges” alone will not work政府说的没错，英国的家教至关重要，但光是没完没了的抱怨也是于事无补Dec 9th 2010 | from PRINT EDITIONIN THE early 1950s a sociologist called Geoffrey Gorer set out to solve th e mystery of England’s “character”. To be precise, how had the English gone from being a thoroughly lawless bunch—famed for truculence and cruelty—to one of the most orderly societies in history? Just over a century before, he noted, the police entered some bits of Westminster only in squads of six or more “for fear of being cut to pieces”. Popular pastimes included public floggings, dog-fighting and hunting bullocks to death through east London streets. As late as 1914, well-dressed adults risked jeering mockery from ill-clad “rude boys”, and well-dressed children risked assault. Yet by 1951, when Gorer surveyed more than 10,000 men and women, he could describe an England famous worldwide for disciplined queuing, where “you hardly ever see a fight in a bar”and “football crowds are as orderly as church meetings”. In a book, “Exploring English Character”, Gorer decided that two keys unlocked the mystery: the mid-19th-century creation of a police force of citizen-constables，and the curbing of aggression by “guilt”.上世纪50年代初期，英国社会学家Geoffrey Gorer着手研究英国人的性格究竟有何奥秘。

The English characterTo othe 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. 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 when a friendly stranger or foreigner succeeds for a time in breaking the barrier down.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 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 give an answer like, "I'm not bad," or "Well, I'm very keen on tennis." This self-deprecation is typically English, and, mixed with theirreserve, it often produces a sort of general air of indifference which appears 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 conce it. It’s ideal is the ability to 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 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 cripple 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 Englishmen 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 were all first organized and given rules in Britain. Rules are the essence of sport, and sportsmanship is the ability to practise a sport in obedience to its rules, while also showing generosity to one's opponent and good temper in defeat. Moreover, sportsmanship as an ideal is applied to life in general. One of the most elementary rules of life is "never hit a man when he's down"─in other words, never take advantage of another person's misfortune. English school-boys often show this sense of sportsmanship to a surprisingly high degree in their relations with each other.。

Character of EnglishmenQuality of the British, and in particular of the English, is “reserved.” A reserved perso n 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 t end to be like that. 在其他的欧洲人看来，英国人，尤其是英格兰人的最明显的特点是“沉默寡言”。

一个沉默寡言的人不大同陌生人说话，情感不大外露，也很少激动。

要想了解一个沉默寡言的人很困难：他从不谈及他的身世，即使你与他工作数年，也许你不知道他家住在哪里，有几个子女，有些什么兴趣爱好。

英国人往往就是这样。

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, t hey may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If a conversation does star t, personal questions like “How old are you?” or even “What is your name?” are not e asily asked. 乘公共汽车旅行时，他们会尽量找到一个空座位；乘火车旅行时，他们会尽量找到一个空隔间。

Unit 1 A Brief Introduction to the United Kingdom I (英国简介I)一、本单元重点内容1. A complicated country with a complicated name (复杂的名称，复杂的国家)2. The effects of its imperial past (帝国主义历史的影响)3. A multiracial society (多种族的社会)4. Remarkable class, regional and economic differences (显著的阶级、地域和经济差异)5. The significant role of London (伦敦的重要地位)6. Cultural and economic dominance of England (英格兰的在文化和经济上的统治地位)7. The conquest of Britain （对不列颠的征服）8. Parliament’s dominance over the throne (议会成为凌驾于王室权力之上的统治机构)9. Physical features of Scotland (苏格兰的地理特征)10. Cultural division between highland and lowland (苏格兰高地和低地之间的文化区分)11. The Battle of Bannockburn (班诺克本战役)12. Union with England in 1707 {1707年(苏格兰)与英格兰合并}13. Strong Scottish identity (仍具有很浓的苏格兰特色)14. Brief introduction of Wales (对威尔士的简要介绍)15. Campaigns for independence of UK (威尔士的独立运动)二、本单元重、难点辅导1. A complicated country with a complicated nameThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandEngland Scotland Wales2. The effects of its imperial past1)1) The days of empire ended after World War II. But there are closerelationships which exist with the 50 or more colonies of that empire, andwhich maintain links through Commonwealth of Nations(二战后，帝国主义时代过去了。

英国人的性格特点E·M·福斯特1.首先，我最好和盘托出并且点明我的观点，从根本上来说，英国人的性格特点是中产阶级的性格特点。

此观点拥有详实的历史渊源，因为自18世纪末起中产阶级就成为了英国社会的主导阶级。

中产阶级凭借工业革命发家，凭借1832年的《改革法案》掌权，他们与大英帝国的崛起和构成休戚相关，他们也是19世纪文学的缔造者。

稳重、谨慎、正直、高效、缺乏想像力、虚伪是每个国家中产阶级的特点，然而在英国，上述特点也是全体英国人的特点，因为只有英国的中产阶级掌权长达150年。

拿破仑无礼地称我们为“店老板民族”。

而我们更喜欢称自己为“伟大的商业民族99后者听起来更有尊严，但是二者在本质上是相同的。

当然，英国社会还包括其他阶级，贵族阶级与贫苦阶级。

然而，批评家的眼睛只盯着中产阶级，正如他们只盯着俄国的贫苦阶级与日本的贵族阶级一样。

俄国的典型形象是农民和工人，日本的典型形象是武士，英国的典型形象是布尔先生，他头戴高顶大礼帽，身穿合体的衣服，挺着大肚皮，数着银行的大笔存款。

圣·乔治也许会蹦蹦跳跳地举起标语，发表政治演说，而约翰·布尔则会去送货。

如果基博的观点是正确的，甚至圣·乔治也曾戴上高顶大礼帽，他是一位军火承包商，并且供应质量低劣的熏肉。

最终的结果都是一样的。

2.其次，正如中产阶级是英国的核心一样，公学制度是中产阶级的核心。

这种超乎寻常的体制具有地域性，它还没有扩展到英伦三岛。

爱尔兰和苏格兰都不存在这种体制(这两个国家不在我的调查之列)，尽管这样有利于其他优秀体制的出现，比如仅限于美国某些学校所采用的阿里加体制，因为它产生于安格鲁一萨克逊中产阶级，而且只能在上述阶级中实行。

英国公学制度比充满社会与精神复杂性的大学更充分地体现了中产阶级的特性。

学生寄宿、必修运动项目、高年级同学在差使低年级同学为自己办事时必须对其行为负责，以及高度重视身材与团队精神是英国公学制度的四大特点，正是这些特点使公学的学生具有超乎寻常的影响力。

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”。

Layout of the assignmentEssay writing of Unit 1 the English CharacterWhich aspect of the English character impresses you the most? Why?The Character of the British--Conservative邹扬英语学院2015级14班学号：150111421Part One: ConservativeWhen it comes to the British characters, I’ll think many aspects, including modesty, humor and so on. What impresses me most is conservative.The English people have strong belief in conservative. They are unwilling to accept new things but old-fashioned conservative ideology. Here are some examples to show it.Firstly, England is one of the few countries who still keep the monarchy, and the monarchy as nominal head of the state still exists in the highly developed capitalist country. Besides, as the first country to complete the industrial revolution, Britain refused to introduce decimal system, and they doesn’t use metric system which works as a common criterion in the world, instead, they use mile. In addition to the well-known fact that they still use their traditional system of weights and measurements, for example when the invention of central air conditioner was born in America, the British refused to accept it but continue to use fireplaces and electric stoves. So it’s difficult to say goodbye to the past for Britain.Part Two: The possible causes of conservativeAs the former mentions, we know various examples formed the British conservation, and various causes come together to produce the British character.On one hand is the cause of the location. As we know, England is an island, cut off the English C hannel it and outside world, British didn’t even see themselves as Europeans. So the less communication they start, the more difficult they will accept new things. On the other hand, British history of this nation are very proud of, they are so devout believes in their nation that they think their things are best and wonderful. In their opinion, change isn’t useful.In a word, Social geographical location and unique history of civilization makes the country the British created the current characterPart Three: ConclusionAll in all, it’s the British conservative, which makes an important role in British life. But I think British should realize the importance of learning new things, and try to learn something new on the basis of its original to improve. Anyway, the British character, conservative, is necessary to be improved.。

The EnglishmanEdward Morgan Forster (1879-1970)The Englishman appears to be cold and unemotional because he is really slow. When an event happens, he may understand it quickly enough with his mind, but he takes quite a while to feel it. Once upon a time a coach, containing some Englishmen and some Frenchmen, was driving over the Alps. The horses ran away1, and as they were dashing across a bridge the coach caught on the stonework2, tottered, and nearly fell into the ravine below. The Frenchmen were frantic with terror: they screamed and gesticulated and flung themselves about, as Frenchmen would3. The Englishmen sat quite calm. An hour later the coach drew up at an inn to change horses, and by that time the situations were exactly reversed. The Frenchmen had forgotten all abut the danger, and were chattering gaily; the Englishmen had just begun to feel it, and one had a nervous breakdown and was obliged to go to bed. We have here a clear physical difference between the two races—a difference that goes deep into character. The Frenchmen responded at once; the Englishmen responded in time. They were slow and they were also practical. Their instinct forbade them to throw themselves about in the coach, because it was more likely to trip over if they did. They had this extraordinary appreciation4of fact that we shall notice again and again. When a disaster comes, the English instinct is to do what can be done first, and to postpone the feeling as long as possible. Hence they are splendid at emergencies. No doubt they are brave – no one will deny that – but bravery is partly an affair of the nerves, and the English nervous system is well equipped for meeting a physical emergency. It acts promptly and feels slowly. Such a combination is fruitful, and anyone who possesses it has gone a long way toward5being brave. And when the action is over, then the Englishman can feel.英国人爱德华摩尔根福斯特（1879-1970）英国人表面上给人以冷漠无情之感，实际上则因为感觉较慢。

英国人的性格特点E·M·福斯特1.首先，我最好和盘托出并且点明我的观点，从根本上来说，英国人的性格特点是中产阶级的性格特点。

此观点拥有详实的历史渊源，因为自18世纪末起中产阶级就成为了英国社会的主导阶级。

中产阶级凭借工业革命发家，凭借1832年的《改革法案》掌权，他们与大英帝国的崛起和构成休戚相关，他们也是19世纪文学的缔造者。

稳重、谨慎、正直、高效、缺乏想像力、虚伪是每个国家中产阶级的特点，然而在英国，上述特点也是全体英国人的特点，因为只有英国的中产阶级掌权长达150年。

拿破仑无礼地称我们为“店老板民族”。

而我们更喜欢称自己为“伟大的商业民族99后者听起来更有尊严，但是二者在本质上是相同的。

当然，英国社会还包括其他阶级，贵族阶级与贫苦阶级。

然而，批评家的眼睛只盯着中产阶级，正如他们只盯着俄国的贫苦阶级与日本的贵族阶级一样。

俄国的典型形象是农民和工人，日本的典型形象是武士，英国的典型形象是布尔先生，他头戴高顶大礼帽，身穿合体的衣服，挺着大肚皮，数着银行的大笔存款。

圣·乔治也许会蹦蹦跳跳地举起标语，发表政治演说，而约翰·布尔则会去送货。

如果基博的观点是正确的，甚至圣·乔治也曾戴上高顶大礼帽，他是一位军火承包商，并且供应质量低劣的熏肉。

最终的结果都是一样的。

2.其次，正如中产阶级是英国的核心一样，公学制度是中产阶级的核心。

这种超乎寻常的体制具有地域性，它还没有扩展到英伦三岛。

爱尔兰和苏格兰都不存在这种体制(这两个国家不在我的调查之列)，尽管这样有利于其他优秀体制的出现，比如仅限于美国某些学校所采用的阿里加体制，因为它产生于安格鲁一萨克逊中产阶级，而且只能在上述阶级中实行。

英国公学制度比充满社会与精神复杂性的大学更充分地体现了中产阶级的特性。

学生寄宿、必修运动项目、高年级同学在差使低年级同学为自己办事时必须对其行为负责，以及高度重视身材与团队精神是英国公学制度的四大特点，正是这些特点使公学的学生具有超乎寻常的影响力。