I. Fill in the blanks with the correct words.

1. The British are known as a people self-assured, absolutely confident in their national sense of___.

2. The British display a very wide ___of individual differences among themselves, and even among others.

3. For example, it is part of the Englishman's code not to ___ upon his neighbours and their way of doing things.

4. On a national scale their conservatism may be illustrated by the attitude to the monarchy, which is held in ___ and ___ by nearly all English people.

5. They like to think that their private customs ___ them, as groups, from the rest of the world.

6. The village with its church, pub, fishing, cricket, animals everywhere, especially dogs and horses — all this creates an ideal ___of Britain.

7. Some people bring their own ___, pulling them behind their cars, others hire___, already in position.

8. Students, young people working away from home and single people in general like to go away for the___.

9. Saturday morning is a very busy time for___, as this is the only day when people who are at work can ___ for any length of time.

10. Sunday has always been a favourite day for inviting people — friends, relations, colleagues — to ___ tea, and there are no signs that this custom is losing popularity nowadays.

II. Complete the sentences with the best answer (a, b or c).

1. Some of the British national traits are resulting from the British

a) culture.

b) character.

c) way of life.

2. The British have some very rigid code of behaviour, notably the

a) Parliamentary code.

b) university code.

c) public-school code.

3. They (the British) are against any suggestion that some modification of their habits, or the introduction of something new and unknown into their lives, might be to their

a) use.

b) interest.

c) advantage.

4. The country house is, perhaps, Britain's greatest contribution to European

a) culture.

b) image.

c) civilization.

5. Few English people rent houses or flats for their holidays, but one of the traditional ways of spending a summer holiday is in a

a) holiday camp.

b) boarding-house.

c) hotel.

III. Are the statements true or false? Correct the false statements.

1. Nothing has been more important in British history than the fact that Great Britain is a peninsula.

2. Although the actual situation of Great Britain in the contemporary world is no longer that of a top nation, it would seem that the implications of this change have not penetrated far into British popular consciousness.

3. True, for nearly two centuries Britain has undergone changes with serious political and economic violence.

4. Local corporations, universities, schools and societies have their own private traditions.

5. The village is an essential and much admired part of the rural heritage of England.

6. It was not the British who started the fashion for seaside holidays.

7. Camping holidays in the proper sense of the word, with tents, are not so developed in Britain as on the continent.

8. The British people may be conservative about the times they take their holiday, but they have shown themselves very unready to take to new places.

9. On weekdays shops close between 5.30 and 6.00 p.m. and they are closed all day on Sunday.

10. Church bells are another typical feature of an English Sunday morning, and many people go to morning service.