Generally, British people are renowned for being polite. But some older people in Britain think that people’s manners are worse than they

Generally, British people are renowned for being polite. But some older people in Britain think that people’s manners are worse than theywere in the past. When children were sitting at the dinner table fifty years ago, they could not put their elbows on the table or speak with their mouths full. Sometimes, the youngest children were not allowed to speak at all. But today, conversation at the table is normal. Although manners at home have changed, public manners are still important to most British people. They are famous for their ability to queue for a long time, and become very unhappy if somebody ‘jumps’ the queue. British people are often too polite to complain about bad behaviour, but will not hesitate to say something about queue-jumping. The weird thing is that even when they complain, British people sound like they are sorry and say something like “I’m very sorry but I think I was here first.” When it comes to apologising, the British go further than almost every other nation. It’s normal to say sorry if you bump into somebody with your supermarket trolley, but British people often say sorry back to the person that hit them! Now that really is polite! The rules about good and bad manners change as the world changes. A good example of this is how people use their mobile phones. Most people agree that talking loudly about boring business or family problems on a mobile phone while on a train or bus is rude. But many people still do it, and although the other passengers roll their eyes and look angry, very few Brits say anything to the person on the phone. Then there is the question of when to switch your mobile off. In a cinema? Yes, definitely. In a business meeting? Yes, probably. At a business lunch? Well, possibly НАДО ОТВЕТИТЬ НА ВОПРОСЫ 3 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? Correct the false sentences. 1 Fifty years ago, children were allowed to talk with food in their mouths. T/F 2 Most British people don’t hesitate to queue-jump. T/F 3 The British never apologise in supermarkets. T/F 4 There are no rules about mobile phone use on a train. T/F 4 What about you? 1 Are you surprised by any of the old or new British customs? Why? 2 How similar are the British customs to the ones in your country.