Reading Comprehension Check Discuss the suggested issues. Argue for and against these ideas.

1. George Bernard Shaw remarked that an Englishman only had to open his mouth to make some other Englishman despise him. Would he say the same thing today?

2. In the 1930-s people in middle-class neighbourhoods often reacted angrily to the building of housing estates for the working class nearby. This could never happen today. What has changed?

3. Think of some examples of individualism.

4. Is a hereditary monarchy an anachronism today?

5. “Good fences make good neighbours”. (Robert Frost)

6. “Nobody ought to own houses or furniture – any more that they own the stones of the high road”. (D.H. Lawrence)

7. Assess the importance of home environment in the formation of character.

8. “The balanced individual ... must know his origins, understand his background; appreciate the people, the historical processes, and the circumstances of which he is a contemporary projection”. (Morris Adler)

Assignments

1. Comment on the following abstract notions that were used in the text: snobbery, social identity, chauvinism, political affiliations, attachment, conservatism, accent, patriotism, spiritedness, segregation, vulnerability, amateurism.

2. Based on the contents of the left-hand column think out virtues and faults typical of your nation. If necessary, modify the chart.

The United Kingdom

Your Country

Insular spirit, disdain for foreigners

Snobbish, arrogant

Aloof, unsociable

Hypocritical

Conservative, hard to convince

Prudent, careful, practical, realistic

Suspicious

Lovers of order

Lovers of animals, nature

3. Look through the following word-combinations and make sure that you can use them correctly.

to be organized according to English custom

to be able to exert one’s economic power

to be supposed to be great talkers

to be careful with money

to be renowned for some ability

to be conscious of class differences

to have little to do with conscious loyalty

to approve of class divisions

to enjoy different pastimes

to enable one’s children to belong to a higher class

toтbeтcapableтofтusingтstandard English

to be associated with a particular part of the country

to be assumed to be upper class

to be thought of as snobbish

to accuse someone of being posh

to adopt working-class values and habits

in the egalitarian climate

the unofficial segregation of classes

to mix more readily and easily

to give a relatively high value to personal contacts

to forge contacts with other people

toтmakeтsocialтcontactsтthrough work

a clear separation between

the individual and the state

the decrease in confidence

to be considered amusing

a sense of vulnerability

to cling to certain ways of doing things

to be bad at learning other peoples’ languages

to follow customs

to be in common everyday use

to be the most enthusiastic video-watching people

to conform to a stereotype

to dominate the cultures of the other three nations

anti-intellectualism

to proclaim one’s

academic qualifications

to have living folk traditions

to be reluctant to change the system of currency

to be conservative about smth

to be perceived as a token of Britishness

to involve formal ceremonies

to be tolerant of “strange” clothing

to address someone by his or her title

to indicate friendship by open displays of emotion

respect for privacy

to keep things private

to have a reputation for puritanical standards of behaviour

to indicate a lack of respect for privacy

voluntary activity

the world’s largest and well-knownтcharities