An would pref€r» or "would

up with it*\ Remember, there are quite a few expressions in English !to show that you are disappointed and expected something different When expressing your own wishes, or inviting the wishes of other t wish more tentative and tactful by using "would like","would nrJf« \

look through the text again to discuss the following questions:

^According to the text, what kind of people are the British?

2. Why do British people tend to conceal their feelings?

3. What are the most common ways of saying in English that you thought things would be different?

iaskTo^pead the text to find out why the British don't like to complain and discuss the following questions:

I. In what manner do British people generally complain of the misbehaviour of oth­ers? 2. What impression do the British tend to leave in order to be tactful and diplo­matic?

Text 11 Complaining

_B

ritish people are said to be reluctant to complain. As a rule they tend to avoid making a fuss and keep themselves in check. All this helps to explain their reac­tion to bad plays, bad performances or bad service in hotels or restaurants. Except on rare occasions, the British do not boo (n the theatre, they simply stay away. They don't whistle and jeer like an Italian crowd at the opera or a Spanish crowd at a bullfight. If the star cricketer scores a duck, if the highly praised footballer misses a goal, they will be allowed to leave the ground in heavy silence. When the British do complain they generally do that in a rather apologetic manner. In fact, they tend to give the impression of being unsure in order to be tactful and diplomatic.

■Kit)Read the following joke and fill in the best possible variants from the list.

French Italian British German Swiss M^Wc^uJ^

fie avert is where the police are , the cooks are , the mechanics arc

the lovers are and it's all organised by the Hell is where the police are Ger~

Jk the cooks are English, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, and it \s wmganised by the Italians. "m

fotlowre text and tiridferlrne anything that surprises you m thai ym

Mfflmm tettfetothis text.

m

J.j

.W*

Text 12

I

^^Hpe small things which make the interesting differences between * ountries. m& .there are far more of them than ever appear at the level of diplomatic meetings and gram! hotels. Wc think of pizzas and hamburgers, but forget the food you huv in the street - the chestnuts you get in London, meat patties in Finland.

Computers, compact discs, cameras may be the same everywhere - but we go to a chemist's to buy film, because the British used to get their developing fluid there; other nations don't. A continental chemist may austerely sell nothing but drugs, few will .sell hair-slides and tights and hot water bottles like ours: and none of them sell two qggs over easy and a cup of coffee, as in the States. In a recent survey conducted bv the American Board of Tourism, professionals in various areas of the tourism industry have rated Brazilians as the world's best tourists. The survey gave points for things like 'politeness,' 'willingness to understand and speak English' and "cultural sensitivity/ People working in jobs ranging from taxi-drivers to hotel receptionists and airline flight attendants almost unanimously rated the Brazilians as being friendly' and polite.'

The opposite seemed true of the Germans. "The Germans just don't seem to get it." said one lager of a hotel chain, based in New Orleans. "They're rude and impatient yet they expect service with a smile. They travel outside Germany yet want to have things just like at home. The best tippers are the Japanese, according to the survey. A travel agent representative explains: The Japanese are afraid of losing face*. They 'II do what they think is expected of them in the country they are visiting, so they're usually ex­tremely polite. They rate very high in the cultural sensitivity category."

The French scored extremely low in the "willingness to understand and speak Eng­lish1 category. "It's amazing. They can be so rude and snobby." said a ticket agent at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. "You try to explain things to them and they an­swer you back in French. Not only that, they smoke too much - even where it's not al­lowed -and they're generally messy, leaving cigarettes and other rubbish on the floor. It's unbelievable." A summary of the Board's survey is given below

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