Are British people the politest in the world? 英國人最有禮貌嗎？

研究人員分析瞭來自五大洲、講八種不同語言的當地居民之間的互動後發現，英國人說“謝謝”的頻率高過所有人。但這種表達感激的方式有多重要呢？

文字稿

Around the world there are a variety of ways to express gratitude in thousands of different languages. Here in England, children are taught from a young age that they should say “thank you” whenever possible, with “what’s the magic word?” being a familiar phrase with parents across the nation.

在世界各地，上千種不同語言中有各種各樣表達感激之情的方式。在英國，孩子們在很小的時候就被教導說，隻要有機會就應該說“謝謝”。傢長們用傢喻戶曉的“那個神奇的詞是什麼？”這句話教育孩子要記得說“謝謝”。

Now scientists have looked at languages across five continents and found that officially no one expresses gratitude more than the British. But not as much as you may think – we only say ‘thank you’ just one in seven occasions that we should do.

現在，科學傢們已經研究瞭五大洲的多種語言，發現沒有人比英國人表達感激之情的次數多。但實際次數可能沒你想的那麼多，我們隻在七分之一該表達感謝的場合中說“謝謝你”。

Russians only thanked each other 3% of the time and Italians only 14%. But Giovanni Rossi of the University of Helsinki and a lead author of the study said that this wasn’t just people being rude.

俄羅斯人在交流時感謝彼此的比例是3%，而意大利人也隻有14%。但赫爾辛基大學的喬瓦尼·羅西和這項研究的主要作者說，這不僅僅隻因為人們比較粗魯。

Giovanni and his fellow scientists suggest that English children might be coerced by adults to enter into a politeness routine when their parents might not even do the same.

喬瓦尼和他的同事們認為，英國的孩子可能是被成年人強迫養成一種禮貌習慣，然而他們的父母甚至可能不會這般禮貌。

1. 詞匯表

express 表達
gratitude 感謝，感激直情
occasions 場合
rude 粗魯的
coerced 被迫的
politeness 禮貌的
routine 習慣，例行公事

2. 閱讀理解：請在讀完上文後，回答下列問題。

1. What is the ‘magic word’ that children are told to say?

2. Which people only said “thank you” three per cent of the time?

3. True or false? British people are thought to be the politest because they say ‘thank you’ all the time.

4. What does Giovanni suggest English parents do to their children?

3. 答案

1. What is the ‘magic word’ that children are told to say?
The ‘magic word’ is “thank you”.

2. Which people only said “thank you” three per cent of the time?
Research found Russians only thanked each other three per cent of the time.

3. True or false? British people are thought to be the politest because they say ‘thank you’ all the time.
False. Although research found the British say ‘thank you’ more times than anyone else, it’s not as much as you may think – they only say ‘thank you’ just one in seven occasions that they should do.

4. What does Giovanni suggest English parents do to their children?
Giovanni and his fellow scientists suggest that English children might be coerced by adults to enter into a politeness routine.