英国人最有礼貌吗？
Are British people the politest in the world?

研究人员分析了来自五大洲、讲八种不同语言的当地居民之间的互动后发现，英国人说“谢谢”的频率高过所有人。但这种表达感激的方式有多重要呢？

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，上千种不同语言中有各种各样表达感激之情的方式。在英国，孩子们在很小的时候就被教导说，只要有机会就应该说“谢谢”。家长们用家喻户晓的“那个神奇的词是什么？”这句话教育孩子要记得说“谢谢”。

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.

现在，科学家们已经研究了五大洲的多种语言，发现没有人比英国人表达感激之情的次数多。但实际次数可能没你想的那么多，我们只在七分之一该表达感谢的场合中说“谢谢你”。

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.

俄罗斯人在交流时感谢彼此的比例是3%，而意大利人也只有14%。但赫尔辛基大学的乔瓦尼·罗西和这项研究的主要作者说，这不仅仅只因为人们比较粗鲁。

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.

乔瓦尼和他的同事们认为，英国的孩子可能是被成年人强迫养成一种礼貌习惯，然而他们的父母甚至可能不会这般礼貌。

1. 词汇表

express 表达
gratitude 感谢，感激直情
occasions 场合
rude 粗鲁的
coerced 被迫的
politeness 礼貌的
routine 习惯，例行公事

2. 阅读理解：请在读完上文后，回答下列问题 。

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.