文档文本内容
The British Like Talking About Weather
Generally speaking, a British is widely regarded as a quiet, shy and conservative person who is
relax only among those with whom he is acquainted. When a stranger is at present, he often seems
nervous, even embarrassed. You have to take a commuter train any morning or evening to witness
the truth of this. Serious-looking businessmen and women sit reading their newspapers or dozing
in a corner; hardly anybody talks, since to do so would be considered quite offensive.
Apparently, there is an unwritten but clearly understood code of behavior which, once broken,
makes the offender immediately the object of criticism. It has been known as a fact that a British
has a fancy for the discussion of their weather and that, if given a chance, he will talk about it at
length. Some people argue that it is because the British weather seldom follows forecast and hence
becomes a source of interest and speculation to everyone. This may be so. Also a British cannot
have much faith in the weathermen, who, after promising fine, sunny weather for the following
day, are often proved wrong when a cloud over the Atlantic brings rainy weather to all districts!
The man in the street seems to be as accurate----or as inaccurate----as the weathermen in his
predictions.
Foreigners may be surprised at the number of references to weather that the British make to
each other in the course of a single day. Very often conversational greetings are replaced by
comments on the weather. “Nice day, isn’t it?” “Beautiful day!” may well be heard instead of
“Good morning, how are you?” Although the foreigner may consider this exaggerated and comic,
it is worthwhile pointing out that it could be used to his advantage. If he wants to start a
conversation with a British but is at a loss to know where to begin, he could do well to mention
the state of the weather. It is a safe subject which will provoke an answer from even the most
reserved of the British.
爱谈论天气的英国人
一般说来，人们普遍认为英国人安静、害羞和保守，只有面对熟人时才觉得放松。当有
陌生人在场时，英国人似乎总是很紧张，甚至感到尴尬。在任何一个早上或是晚上，你坐
上一辆通勤列车，就能体会到这是真的。神情严肃的商业男女坐着读他们的报纸，或在角
落里打盹，几乎没人交谈，因为这样做将会被认为是相当无礼的。很明显，有一种不成文但却被大家明确理解的行为准则。一旦这种行为准则被打破，冒
失鬼便会立即成为受批评的对象。众所周知，英国人有一种癖好，那就是爱讨论他们的天
气。一旦有机会，他们会一直谈下去。有人辩解说，这是国为英国的天气从来无法预测，
所以便成为所有人都感兴趣和乐于猜测的话题。也许是这样吧。当然，英国人无法过于相
信天气预报员，因为，在他们预报了第二天有晴朗的好天气后，通常他们的预报就会被给
各地区带来降水的一片大西洋上空的云彩推翻。街上的行人似乎在预言天气方面和天气预
报员一样准确或一样不准确。
外国人也许会对英国人每天提到天气的次数之多感到惊讶。通常，英国人用谈论天气来
代替见面打招呼。人们常听到这样的对话：“好天气呀！”“天气好极了！”而不是“早
上好，你好吗？”尽管外国人也许认为这有点夸张和可笑，值得指出的是他们可以对这一
点加以利用。如果有人想和一个英国人谈话，但却不知先说些什么，他就可以谈谈天气状
况。即使是从最保守的英国人那里，这个话题也一定能得到答案。
