The English, as a race, are very different in many ways from all other nationalities, including their closest neighbors, the French, the Belgians and the Dutch. It is claimed that living on an island separated from the rest of Europe has much to do with it. Whatever the reasons are, it may be fairly stated that the Englishman has developed many attitudes and habits which distinguish him from other nationalities.

Broadly speaking, the Englishman is a quiet, shy, reserved person who is fully relaxed only among people he knows well. In the presence of strangers or foreigners he often seems restrained, even embarrassed. You have only to witness a city train any morning or evening to see the truth of this. Serious-looking businessmen and women sit reading their newspapers or having a light sleep in a corner, and no one speaks. In fact, to do so would seem most unusual. An Englishman, pretending to be giving advice to overseas visitors, once suggested, “On entering a railway carriage, shake hands with all the passengers.” Needless to say, he was not being serious. There is an unwritten but clearly understood code of behavior which, if broken, makes the person immediately suspected.

In many parts of the world it is quite normal to show openly extremes of enthusiasm, emotion, excitement, etc, often accompanied by appropriate gesture. The Englishman is somewhat different. Of course, an Englishman feels no less deeply than anyone of a different nationality, but he tends to display his feelings far less. This is reflected in his use of language. Imagine a man commenting on the great beauty of a young girl. A more emotional man might describe her state “Oh, she is a goddess”, whereas an Englishman might just say “Oh, she’s all right.” An Englishman who has seen a highly successful and enjoyable film recommends it to a friend by commenting, “It’s not bad you know”, or on seeing some very unusual scenery he might convey (表达) his pleasure by saying, “Nice, yes, very nice.” The overseas visitor must not be disappointed by this apparent lack of interest and involvement. Instead, he must realize that “all right,” “not bad,” and “nice,” very often have the sense of “first-class,” “excellent,” “beautiful”. This unique style of language use is particularly common in England, and is known as restrained statement.

1.According to the passage, the English are different from other nationalities in _______.

2.The underlined word “restrained” in the second paragraph probably means “        ”. 

3.In Britain, if you don’t want other people to think you are strange, you’d better _________. 

4.If an Englishman says “all right”, it may mean “________”.  

5.From the passage, we can infer that an Englishman _________.

There are several ways you can find out about the countries and places you wish to visit. You can talk to friends who have travelled to the places. Or you can go and see a colour film. Or you can read travel books.

It would seem that there are three kinds of travel books. The first are those that give a personal, subjective(主观的) account of travels which the author has actually made himself. if they are informative and have a good index(索引), then they can be useful to you when you are planning your travels. The second kind are those books whose purpose is to give a purely objective(客观的) description of things to be done and seen. If a well-read, cultured person has written such a book, then it is even more useful. It can be sorted as a selected guide book. The third kind are those books which are called “a guide” to some place or other. If they are good, they will, in addition to their factual information, give an analysis or an explanation. Like the first kind they can be inspiring and interesting. But their basic purpose is to help the reader who wishes to plan in the most practical way.

Whatever kind of travel book you choose you must make sure that it does not describe everything as “wonderful”, “excellent” or “magical”. You must also note its date of publication because travel is a very practical affair and many things change quickly in the twenty-first century. Finally, you should make sure that the contents are well presented and easy to find.

This passage is about _______.

A. how to travel                          B. how to buy travel books

C. how to read a travel book         D. travel books

The following travel books may be of use when you plan your travels except _______.

A. the book written by some people who have had the same travel experience themselves

B. the book which tells you what is worth doing and seeing based on the facts

C. the book in which a lot of big adjectives are used to draw your attention

D. the book which offers you a lot of useful information like a tour guide

The date of the publication must be noticed because _______.

A. the world is changing and so are the places you are going to visit

B. the price of the book is always changing

C. the author of the book may be different

D. the contents of the book are always the same