OK 4. - Student's Book [antikvár]

ONE LESSON ONE GI^MMARThTACTi^ The best about Britain? Every year, thousands of foreign students visit Britain. We asked some of them, •What do you like best about Britain? These are some of their answers. 'Tiie old people. Tiiey're so friendly, and they've nearly always got time to help you. When you don't know where you are, they come up to you and say, "Can I help you, love?" or "What are you looking for, dear?" 1 love the way they call everybody "love" and "dear" like that - even complete strangers." ¦Why does everybody say the weather here's so^ bad? 1 love these cool, grey, cloudy days. They're a bit sad - perhaps that's why I like them. I come from Turkey. It's sunny most of the time there, and I sometimes get fed up with it. But here the weather's so changeable. You hardly ever know what to expect when you look out of the window in the morning - and then it often changes five or six times during the day! It's raining now, for example, but I've got no idea what it's going to be like this aftemoon!' 'I like the character of the people. Foreigners usually complain that the British are very reserved and distant. But I don't agree. I like the way they're always so calm and controlled, just like in films. If you tell a British person something really dramatic, like his house is on fire, he doesn't panic. He just calmly dials 999 and then sits down and has a cup of tea!' 'What do I like best about Britain? The fact that people here very rarely smoke. I never smoke myself -1 think it's a disgusting habit. But my friends in Spain smoke nearly all the time. It's so nice to be able to breathe "clean" air in cinemas, on buses and so on. And the few people who do smoke, almost always ask "Do you mind if I smoke?" before they light up.' ¦I'm staying with an English family. Family life here seems to be much more relaxed than in my country. People eat whenever they like, come in and go out whenever they want to - there aren't so many rules. When I go out in the evening. 1 nobody asks me '¦Where are you going? Who are you going with? What time are you coming home?" You've got much more privacy, the chance to live your own life, and do whatever you want.'