自考英语综合一下册课文 lesson 9

　　[00:00.00]Text
[00:02.69]The English Character
[00:06.14]To other Europeans,the best known quality of the British,
[00:11.57]and in particular of the English,is"reserved."
[00:17.21]A reserved person is one who does not talk very much to strangers,
[00:23.46]does not show much emotion,and seldom gets excited.
[00:29.94]It is difficult to get to know a reserved person:
[00:35.21]he never tells you anything about himself,
[00:39.76]and you may work with him for years without ever knowing where he lives,
[00:46.00]how many children he has,and what his interests are.
[00:51.25]English people tend to be like that.
[00:55.61]If they are making a journey by bus they will do their best to find an empty seat
[01:02.67]if by train,an empty compartment¹.
[01:07.42]If they have to share the compartment with a stranger,
[01:12.46]they may travel many miles without starting a conversation.
[01:18.42]If a conversation does start,personal questions like"How old are you?"
[01:25.50]or even"What is your name?"are not easily asked.
[01:31.38]This reluctance² to communicate with others is an unfortunate quality in some ways
[01:38.43]since it tends to give the impression of coldness,
[01:43.29]and it is true that the English(except perhaps in the North)
[01:49.45]are not noted³ for their generosity⁴ and hospitality.
[01:55.51]On the other hand,they are perfectly⁵ human behind their barrier of reserve,
[02:02.67]and may be quite pleased when a friendly stranger
[02:07.63]or foreigner succeeds for a time in breaking the barrier down.
[02:14.19]We may also mention at this point that the people of the North and West,
[02:20.72]especially the Welsh,are much less reserved than those of the South and East.
[02:28.17]Closely related to English reserve is English modesty⁶.
[02:34.33]Within their hearts,
[02:37.81]the English are perhaps no less conceited⁸ than anybody else,
[02:43.87]but in their relations with others they value at least a show of modesty.
[02:51.42]Self-praise is felt to be impolite.
[02:55.99]If a person is,let us say,
[02:59.93]very good a tennis and someone asks him if he is a good player,
[03:06.57]he will seldom reply"Yes,"because people will think him conceited.
[03:13.41]He will probably give an answer like,
[03:17.56]"I'm not bad,"or"I think I'm very good,"or"Well,I'm very keen on tennis."
[03:27.23](i.e.I'm very fond of it.)
[03:31.49]Even if he had managed to reach the finals in last year's local championships,
[03:38.64]he would say it in such a way as to suggest that it was only due
[03:44.71]to a piece of good luck.
[03:48.05]The famous English sense of humor is similar.
[03:53.40]Its starting point is self-dispraise,and its great enemy is conceit⁷.
[04:00.56]Its object is the ability to laugh at oneself at one's own faults,
[04:05.92]one's own failure,even at one's own ideals.
[04:13.57]The criticism,"He has no sense of humor"is very commonly heard in Britain,
[04:21.51]where humor is highly prized.
[04:25.67]A sense of humor is an attitude to life rather than the mere⁹ ability to laugh at jokes
[04:33.03]This attitude is never cruel or disrespectful or malicious¹⁰.
[04:39.51]The English do not laugh at a cripple or a madman,
[04:44.55]or a tragedy or an honorable failure.
[04:49.91]Since reserve,a show of modesty and a sense of humor are part of his own nature,
[04:57.27]the typical Englishman tends to expect them in others.
[05:02.84]He secretly looks down on more excitable nations,
[05:08.01]and likes to think of himself as more reliable than they.
[05:13.57]He doesn't trust big promises and open shows of feelings,
[05:20.65]especially if they are expressed in flowery language.
[05:25.90]He doesn't trust self-praise of any kind.
[05:30.55]This applies not only to what other people may tell him about themselves orally,
[05:37.71]but to the letters they may write to him.
[05:42.39]To those who are fond of flowery expressions,
[05:47.53]the Englishman may appear uncomfortably cold.
[05:52.50]Finally,sportsmanship.
[05:56.55]Like a sense of humor this is an English ideal
[06:02.19]which not all Englishmen live up to.

　　[06:06.84]It must be realized
[06:10.39]that sport in its modern form is almost entirely¹¹ a British invention.
[06:17.23]Boxing,rugby,football,hockey,
[06:22.56]tennis and cricket were all first organized and given rules in Britain.
[06:29.93]Rules are the essence of sport,
[06:34.29]and sportsmanship is the ability to practice a sport according to its rules,
[06:41.45]while also showing generosity to one's opponent and good temper in defeat.
[06:49.31]The high pressure of modern international sport
[06:54.28]makes these ideals difficult to keep,
[06:58.64]but they are at least highly valued in Britain
[07:03.68]and are certainly achieved there more commonly than among more excitable peoples.
[07:10.92]Moreover,sportsmanship as an ideal is applied¹² to life in general.
[07:18.15]This is proved by the number of sporting terms used in ordinary speech.
[07:24.81]Everybody talks of"fair play"and"playing the game"or"playing fair."
[07:31.94]Borrowed from boxing,
[07:35.47]"straight from the shoulder"is used to describe a well aimed,strong criticism
[07:42.55]and "below the belt"is used to describe an unfair one.
[07:47.91]One of the most elementary rules of life is"never hit a man when he's down"
[07:54.98]in other words,never take advantage of a person's misfortune.
[08:01.15]English schoolboys often show this sense of sportsmanship
[08:06.50]to a surprisingly high degree in their relations with each other.

1 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

2 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

5 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

6 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

7 conceit   

n.自负，自高自大

参考例句：

• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。
• She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。

8 conceited   

adj.自负的，骄傲自满的

参考例句：

• He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。
• I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。

9 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

10 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。