Character of Englishmen英国人的性格 Character of Englishmen Quality of the British, and in particular of the English, is “reserved.” A reserved perso n is one who does not talk very much to strangers, does not show much emotion, and seldom gets excited. It is difficult to get to know a reserved person: he never tells you anything about himself, and you may work with him for years without ever knowing where he lives, how many children he has, and what his interests are. English people t end to be like that. 在其他的欧洲人看来，英国人，尤其是英格兰人的最明显的特点是“沉默寡言”。
一个沉默寡言的人不大同陌生人说话，情感不大外露，也很少激动要想了解一个沉默寡言的人很困难：他从不谈及他的身世，即使你与他工作数年，也许你不知道他家住在哪里，有几个子女，有些什么兴趣爱好英国人往往就是这样 If they are making a journey by bus they will do their best to find an empty seat; if by train, an empty compartment. If they have to share the compartment with a stranger, t hey may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If a conversation does star t, personal questions like “How old are you?” or even “What is your name?” are not e asily asked. 乘公共汽车旅行时，他们会尽量找到一个空座位；乘火车旅行时，他们会尽量找到一个空隔间。
如果他们不得不与他人共坐一个隔间，火车开了数英里也许还不见他们开口说话即使打开了话匣子，他们也不轻易问起“你多大了？”或者“你贵姓？”之类的个人问题 This reluctance to communicate with others is an unfortunate quality in some ways si nce it tends to give the impression of coldness, and it is true that the English (except p erhaps in the North) are not noted for their generosity and hospitality. On the other ha nds, they are perfectly human behind their barrier of reserve, and may be quite please d when a friendly strange or foreigner succeeds for a time in breaking the barrier dow n. We may also mention at this point that the people of the North and West, especially the Welsh, are much less reserved than those of the South and East. 从某些方面来说，这种不愿与人交往的特点是件令人遗憾的事情，因为这往往给人以冷漠的印象。
除了北方人以外，英国人从不以他们的慷慨大方和热情好客而著称另一方面，虽然他们表面上沉默寡言，但内心还是很有人情味当友善的 本文来源：网络收集与整理，如有侵权，请联系作者删除，谢谢！第2页 共2页第 2 页 共 2 页第 2 页 共 2 页第 2 页 共 2 页第 2 页 共 2 页第 2 页 共 2 页第 2 页 共 2 页第 2 页 共 2 页第 2 页 共 2 页第 2 页 共 2 页第 2 页 共 2 页。