2星火英语四级美文听力第2篇The English Character

The English Character

To other Europeans, the best known quality of the

British,and in particular of the English, is “reserved”.A reserved person 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 tend to be like that.Closely related to

English reserve is English modesty.Within their hearts, the English are perhaps no less conceited than anybody else,but in their relations with others they value at least a show of modesty.Self－praise is felt to be impolite.If a person is, let us say,very good at tennis and someone asks him if he is a good player,he will seldom reply “Yes,”because people will think him conceited.He will probably give an answer like,“I’m not bad,” or “I think I’m very good,” or “Well, I’m

very keen on tennis.”Even if he had managed to reach the finals in last year’s local championships,he would say it in such a way as to suggest that it was only due to a piece of good luck.Since reserve and modesty are part of his own nature,the typical English tends to expect them in others.He secretly looks down on more excitable nations,and likes to think of himself as more reliable than they are.He doesn’t trust big promises and open shows of feelings,especially if they are expressed in flowery language.He doesn’t trust self －praise of any kind.This applies not only to what other people may tell him about themselves orally,but to the

letters they may write to him.To those who are fond of flowery expressions,the Englishman may appear uncomfortably cold.

quality ['kwɔləti]n. 质量，品质；特性；才能

1. I think our product is high quality .

我想我们的产品是高质量的。

2. If you have unlimited fortune and time, how would you

better your lifequality.

假如你有无限的财富和时间，你会如何改善你的生活品质？

quality，feature，characteristic，peculiarity，trait，attribute，character

这些名词均有“特性、特点、品质”之意。

quality最普通用词，既可指有形或无形的特性，又可指个性或共性的特征。

feature指事物突出引人注目的特点。多用来说明人的容貌特征或地理特征。

characteristic指某人或某物天生有别于他人或他物的内部特质或外表特征。

peculiarity指人或事物独具的或奇怪的特点，常带感情色彩。

trait多指人的性格、心情的特征，尤指先天秉赋的持久的行为模式或性格特征。

attribute通常指人主观赋予某事物的属性，可指典型事物。character多指一类人或事物所具有的独特的典型的特征。particular [pə'tikjulə]adj. 特别的；详细的；独有的；挑剔的n. 详细说明；个别项目

1. Do you have any particular style in mind?

你们有没有想要什麽特定的式样？

2. I like meat in general, and mutton in particular.

我总的来说喜欢吃肉，特别爱吃羊肉。

reserved [ri'zə:vd]adj. 保留的，预订的；缄默的，冷淡的；包租的v. 保留（reserve的过去分词）

1. All Copyrights Reserved by the Original Authors.

本栏目版权归原创作者所有。

2. The reservoir in the reserved preserve is an obstacle to the obstinate observer.

预留保护区内的水库对固执的观察者是一个障碍。

tend [tend]vi. 趋向，倾向；照料，照顾vt. 照料，照管

1. He tend ed a drug store for his father.

他替父亲看着一家药店。

2. People tend to visit this site from work.

人们趋于从工作访问这个地点。

modesty ['mɔdisti]n. 谦逊；质朴；稳重

1. There is false modesty, but there is no false pride.

可能有虚伪的谦虚，但决没有虚伪的骄傲。

2. Though modesty be a virtue , yet bashfulness is a vice .

尽管谦虚是一种美德，但害羞就成了缺点。

conceited [kən'si:tid]adj. 自负的；狂想的；逞能的

1. If a person is , let us say, very good at tennis and someone asks him if he is a good player, he will seldom reply "Yes", because people will think him conceited.

比如说，有一个人网球打的很好，要是有人问他是不是个好手，他不大会回答说“是”，因为这样一来，别人就会认为他很自负。

keen [ki:n]adj. 敏锐的，敏捷的；渴望的；强烈的；热心的；锐利的n. 痛哭，挽歌