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1. SPEAKING Describe the photos. Do they match your idea of typical British people? Why/ Why not?
HOW FOREIGNERS SEE THE BRITISH
☊1.16
What is a typical British person like? People who come to Britain from other countries probably have a few expectations: British people are polite, rather reserved, and enjoy drinking tea and standing in queues! But how accurate is this stereotype? In an online survey of 1,402 foreign nationals living in the UK, just over half said that the British matched their expectations.
The survey also asked which aspects of the British character the foreign nationals liked and disliked. British people's good manners were popular with 49% and 40% liked the ability to queue. Many agreed that the British are reserved and for 32% this was a good quality – but for 19% it was negative. Other negative aspects were the British sense of humour (31%) and British culture in general (28%). However, 77% said they liked British people in general and 61% said that their opinion of the British got better as a result of living in the UK.
A spokesman for the researchers said: People probably come to Britain with a stereotype of what to expect. It’s good to see that, for the majority, the reality is better than the stereotype.'
2. Read the text. Are these sentences about the people who took part in the survey true or false? Write T or F.
a. Most have a positive view of the British overall. _____
b. More than half have a better opinion of the British now that they live in the country. _____
3. Complete the labels for the charts with the words below. Use information from the text to help you.
better culture good manners reserve (x2)
sense of humour the same or worse
What do you like about British?
What do you dislike about British?
Is your opinion of the British better or worse now than before you lived here?
4. ☊1.17 Listen to five people from other countries talking about their view of the British. Which person do you think has the most negative view?
5. ☊1.17 Listen again. Match the speakers (1–5) with sentences A–F below.
Which speaker(s) …
A. are not keen on the weather in the UK? _____; _____
B. makes a positive comment about the food? _____
C. do not think British people are hard-working? _____
D. have a negative opinion of young people's behaviour? _____; _____
E. are fans of British culture? _____
F. are generally positive about the people in Britain. _____; _____; _____
