The British love to think of themselves as polite and everyone knows how fond they are of their “pleases"and “thank yous".Even the simplest business such as buying a train ticket requires__65 seven or eight of these.Another __66 of our good manners is the queue.Newcomers to Britain could be forgiven for thinking that queuing rather than football was the__67 national sport.Finally,of course,motorists generally stop at crossings.But does all this mean that the British should consider themselves more polite than their European neighbours?I think not.
Take forms of address (称呼)for example.The average English person__68 he happens to work in a hotel or department store—would rather die than call a stranger “Sir" or“Madam".Yet in some European countries this is the most basic of common address.Our __69 “you" for everyone may appear more democratic,but it means that we are forced to seek out complicated ways to express __70 .I am all for returning to the use of “thee"and “thou"(Thee and thou are oldfashioned poetic words for“you");“you" would be__71 for strangers and professional relationships.
And of course,the English find touching and other shows of friendship truly terrifying.Have you noticed how the British __72 ever touch?Personlly, I find the Latin habit of shaking hands or a friendly kiss quite charming.Try kissing the average English person,and they will either take two steps backwards in horror;or,if their escape is__73 ,you will find your lips touching the back of their head.Now what could be__74 than that ?
65.A.at least B. at most C. less than D. not more than
66.A.signal B. scene C. sign D. sight
67.A.true B. original C. superior D. advanced
68.A.if B. whether C. when D. unless
69.A.universal B. unique C. regular D. normal
70.A.politeness B. gratitude C. democracy D. consideration
71.A.ordered B. reserved C. offered D. stocked
72.A.highly B. mostly C. hardly D. nearly
73.A.confirmed B. assured C. jammed D. blocked
74. A. better B. ruder C. more polite D. more frightening
