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  3. The English, as a race, have the reputation of being very different from all other nationalities, including their close neighbor

The English, as a race, have the reputation of being very different from all other nationalities, including their close neighbor

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问题     The English, as a race, have the reputation of being very different from all other nationalities, including their close neighbors, the French, Belgians and Dutch. It is claimed that living on an island separated from the rest of Europe has much to do with it. Whatever the reasons it may be fairly stated that the Englishman has developed many attitudes and habits which distinguished him from other nationalities.
    Broadly speaking, the Englishman is a quiet, shy, reserved person who is fully relaxed only among people he knows very well. When he meets with strangers of foreigners, he often seems uneasy, even embarrassed. You have only to witness a commuter train any morning or evening to see the truth of this, serious-looking businesses and women sit reading their newspaper or dozing in a corner, no one speaks. In fact, to do so would seem most usual. An English wit, pretending to be giving advice to overseas visitors, once suggested, "on entering a railway compartment 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 the object of suspicion.
    It is a well-known fact that the English have an obsession with their weather and that, given haft a chance, they will talk about it in length. Some people argue that it is because English weather forecast is undependable, as a result, English weather is a source of interest to everyone. This may be so. Certainly Englishmen cannot have much faith in the meteorological experts—the weathermen—who, after promising glorious, sunny weather for the following day, are often proved wrong when an anti-cyclone or as inaccurate as the weatherman in his prediction. This helps to explain the seemingly odd sight of an Englishman leaving home on a bright, sunny summer morning with a raincoat slung over an arm and an umbrella in his hand. So variable is the weather that by lunch time there could be thundering.
    The overseas visitors may be excused for showing surprise at the number of references to weather that the English make to each other in the course of a single day. Very often conventional greetings are replaced by comments on the weather. "Nice day, isn’t?" "Beautiful!" may well be heard instead of "Good morning, how are you?" Although the foreigner may consider this exaggerated and comic, it is worthwhile pointing out that it could be used to his advantage. If he wants to start a conversation with an Englishman (or woman) but is at a loss to know where to begin, he would do well to mention the state of the weather. It is a safe subject, which will encourage even the most reserved Englishmen to enter into a conversation.  
In the following, which subject is the safest one to start a conversation? ______
选项 A、Salary.
B、Privacy.
C、Politics.
D、Weather.
答案D
解析
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