Time for reading

Read the paragraph and see if it agrees with your stereotype of the typical Englishman.

T he typical Englishman works in a London bank but lives in the countryside, in a house with a lovely garden. Every day he reads the ‘Times’ newspaper and does the crossword on the way to work. He never speaks to anybody on the train, but will talk to you about the weather or cricket if you meet him in the pub at lunchtime. He always wears a dark suit to work and always carries an umbrella. He gave up smoking his pipe and wearing a bowler hat some years ago. At the weekend, he wears an old tweed jacket and a pair of gardening trousers. He likes plain, simple food and drinks tea at every opportunity. In his free time, he works in his garden, plays golf or takes his dog for a walk. He is suspicious of all foreigners. He is kind and polite to his wife but does not show her a lot of affection. His wife is a snob who dresses rather badly. They both admire members of the Royal Family and copy their accents. He is proud of his son, who is at Cambridge University, (but would rather die than tell him). He is rather worried about his daughter, who is currently living with a punk, but hopes that she will eventually marry a doctor or an accountant.

DID YOU GET IT?

1. Work with a partner. Answer the questions about the typical Englishman.

1. What does he do?

2. What does he look like?

3. What is he like?

4. What does he like doing?

5. What is his family like?

2. Mindmap strategy. Work with a partner and complete the following mindmap about the typical Englishman.

What does he do? What does he look like?

- ---------------------- Every day At the weekend

------------ -------------------

The typical

__________

What is he like? What does he like doing?

----------------------- ------------------------------

What is his family like?

-----------------------------

Words, words, words...

1. You are given a list of adjectives and expressions that are used to describe personality traits. Match them with the statements below. Use dictionary if necessary.

	A person who...
1. tolerant	a. avoids of extremes, excess and intensity of any kind and tends to compromise
2. courteous/polite	b. is indirect to say what he means or mean what he says.
3. snob	c. doesn’t boast and demonstrate any form of self-importance.
4. pretentious	d. fears of change, especially in the traditional values of society.
5. conservative	e. keeps his feelings and ideas to himself.
6. reserved	f. doesn’t show his emotions in public and seems to be not very friendly in communication
7. cool	g. doesn’t tell lies or cheat people, and obeys the law
8. sarcastic	h. remains calm and doesn’t let other people see what he is really feeling in a difficult or unpleasant situation
9. honest/fair player	i. behaves towards other people in a moral, good and nice way
10. patriotic	j. behaves himself correctly in a pleasant way especially in formal situations
11. to keep a stiff upper lip	k. feels a lot of love, respect and duty to his country.
12. hypocrite	l. wants to impress other people but seems false or too deliberate
13. modest	m. thinks and behaves as if he is better than other people, usually because of his social position
14. moderate	n. accepts other people’s beliefs, way of life without criticizing them, even if he disagrees with them
15. decent	o. uses a sharp and often satirical or ironic remarks intended to upset or mock

2. Which characteristics describe the British? Which adjectives describe you?

3. Which adjectives are positive, which are negative? Complete the following table. Be ready to explain your choice.

Positive	Negative	Both/Neither