Access to English: Social Studies

The British

The British have a passion for queueing, according to the article. The British have a passion for queueing, according to the article. Whenever we try to explain a nation’s people we risk falling into the stereotypes trap. While it feels that you can point to certain characteristics of a people, will they always ring true? For example, does every Norwegian like to ski and go for walks in the country? Normally, when you generalise about the traits of a national group there will be many exceptions to the rule.

Let’s see what someone in Britain writes about the British. Read the article below and answer the questions.

 

Questions:

  1. What is the message the writer is trying to make when he lists all the adjectives about the typical Briton in the first paragraph?
  2. According to the article, which people, or groups, compose the population of the UK?
  3. What does the writer say about class in the UK?
  4. How many classes does the writer claim there are in the UK?
  5. What problems does the article suggest there are due to the class divisions in the UK?
  6. Does the article offer a serious review of British cuisine?
  7. What, according to the article, is the most important and popular British drink?
  8. What drink are the British just not very good at, according to the article?
  9. Choose one of the other headings in the article and summarise what the text says about the British.
  10. How serious do you think the article is? Give some evidence for you point of view.

 

Links