晨读英语美文 The English Character

The English Character

[00:08.96]To other Europeans, 

[00:12.71]the best known quality of the British,

[00:14.50]and in particular of the English, is reserved.

[00:18.09]A reserved person is one

[00:21.59] who does not talk very much to strangers,

[00:23.58]does not show much emotion,

[00:26.32] and seldom gets excited.

[00:27.80]It is difficult to get to know a reserved person:

[00:31.87]he never tells you anything about himself,

[00:34.49]and you may work with him for years

[00:37.65] without ever knowing where he lives,

[00:39.64]how many children he has,

[00:42.13] and what his interests are.

[00:43.47]English people tend to be like that.

[00:47.08]Closely related to English reserve is English modesty.

[00:52.87]Within their hearts, the English are perhaps 

[00:57.03]no less conceited than anybody else,

[00:59.11]but in their relations with others 

[01:01.92]they value at least a show of modesty.

[01:04.25]Selfpraise is felt to be impolite.

[01:08.18]If a person is, let us say,very good at tennis

[01:13.67] and someone asks him if he is a good player,

[01:15.51]he will seldom reply Yes,

[01:18.47]because people will think him conceited.

[01:21.42]He will probably give an answer like,

[01:24.10]I'm not bad, or I think I'm very good, 

[01:28.99]or Well, I'm very keen on tennis.

[01:31.34]Even if he had managed to reach the finals 

[01:36.30]in last years local championships,

[01:38.20]he would say it in such a way as to suggest 

[01:41.38]that it was only due to a piece of good luck.

[01:43.93]Since reserve and modesty are part of his own nature,

[01:48.54]the typical English tends to expect them in others.

[01:52.57]He secretly looks down on more excitable nations,

[01:56.50]and likes to think of himself 

[01:58.99]as more reliable than they are.

[02:00.51]He doesn't trust big promises 

[02:03.86]and open shows of feelings,

[02:04.88]especially if they are expressed in flowery language.

[02:09.15]He doesn't trust selfpraise of any kind.

[02:13.00]This applies not only to what other people

[02:17.02] may tell him about themselves orally,

[02:18.98]but to the letters they may write to him.

[02:21.83]To those who are fond of flowery expressions,

[02:25.40]the Englishman may appear uncomfortably cold.