Millions of British people have ditched the traditional “thank you” and replaced it with the less formal “cheers”, according to a survey.
Although the average person will say “thank you” nearly 5,000 times a year, one in three are more likely to throw in a “cheers” or “ta” where it’s needed, rather than risk sounding old fashioned.
One in 20 now say “nice one” instead, while younger generations are more likely to offer a “cool” than a “thank you”. “Merci”, “fab” and even “gracias” were also listed as common phrases to use, as was “much appreciated”.
One in twenty who took part in the survey of 2,000 people by the Food Network UK for Thank You Day, which is marked on November 24, 2011, said a formal “thank you” was now not often needed in everyday conversation. More than one in ten adults said they regularly wouldn’t say “thank you” if they were in a bad mood.
Most people declared that saying “thank you” was something drilled into them by their parents. A huge 70 percent of those questioned will say “thank you” to a person’s face without even meaning it, while a fifth avoid saying it when they know they should — on at least two occasions every day.
It seems our friends and family get the brunt (压力) of our bad manners with half admitting they’re not good at thanking those closest to them — many justifying (为……辩解) the lack of thanks because their family “already know I’m grateful”.
When spoken words won’t do, it falls to a nice text to do the job for most people. A thank you email is also popular, while a quarter turn to social networks to express gratitude. A quarter of British people say thank you with food, with 23 percent cooking a meal to show their appreciation to someone. Another 15 percent bake a cake. A third will still send a handwritten thank-you note — but 45 percent admit it’s been more than six months since they bothered to send one.
It follows that 85 percent of people will be annoyed at not getting the gratitude they feel they should receive.
小题1:Most of the people who took part in the survey say that they say “thank you” _____.
A．when they are in good mood
B．completely out of habit
C．when they feel truly grateful
D．purely out of politeness小题2:The underlined word “ditched” in Paragraph 1 means “_____”.
A．abandoned
B．used
C．shared
D．grasped小题3:It can be learned from the passage that _____.
A．different ways of expressing gratitude are all fashionable
B．people should avoid saying “thank you” nowadays
C．a thank-you note is still appreciated by most people
D．people in a bad mood never say “thank you”小题4:Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Most people express their gratitude to others by buying food for them.
B．About fifty percent of people try not to say thank you when they should.
C．Most people may feel natural when they fail to receive others’ gratitude.
D．Many people think it unnecessary to say thanks to their family members.
