TASK 1 Read the passage from Chapter Two "Funny Foreigners" in

Jeremy Paxman's book:

TEXT 2
The adage is that geography makes history. But if such a thing as a national
psychology exists, it too may be made by geography. The first profound influence
upon the English is the fact that they live on an island.
England remains the only European country in which apparently intelligent
people can use expressions like '"joining Europe was a mistake", or '"we should
leave Europe'", as if the place can be hitched to the back of the car like a holiday
caravan. An analysis of the British market for the French Tourist Office in 1996
advises, in measured disdain, that '"even though they have a well-developed sense
of humour and can laugh at themselves, they remain conservative and chauvinistic.
The British are profoundly independent and insular, constantly torn between
America and Europe". They are right: one of the consequences of living on an island
is that everywhere is overseas. And once they had committed themselves to the sea,
the English were inclined to see the rest of Europe as nothing but trouble.
The Englishman sees himself as a captain on board a ship with a small group of
people, the sea around and beneath him. He is almost alone; as captain he is in many
ways isolated even from his crew... Seabound security gave the English an early self-
confidence and their relative isolation promoted the growth of an idiosyncratic
intellectual tradition. It produced some very odd geniuses, like Blake or Shakespeare.
It probably has something to do with the fact that England has produced so many very
good travel writers. And nautical gangsters - how else are we to think of a figure like
Sir Francis Drake? Freedom from the fear of sudden invasion also promoted individual
freedoms. We all need enemies, and the French were so wonderfully convenient - near
to hand and yet apparently oblivious of the interests of anyone else. This is how we
thought of our nearest continental neighbours. Obscene drawings were "French
postcards”.
Prostitutes were the '"French Consular Guard'". If a man used their services,
he would "take French lessons". Well into the 1950s, English people were, still
excusing their swearing by asking people to '"pardon my French'" and talking of
unauthorized absences as '"French leave". Once upon a time, when England was at
war with Spain, syphilis was '"the Spanish pox" and corruption was '"Spanish
practices". By the time the Dutch had become the main trading rivals, the English
were inventing phrases like double Dutch for gibberish, or Dutch courage for the
bravery of drunkenness. The pattern applies across Europe, but the Anglo-French
rivalry is in a class of its own. Centuries of hostility cannot be overcome so soon.
Insularity gave the English a great self-confidence, but it did nothing for their
sophistication. It is hard to escape the conclusion that, deep down, the English care
little for foreigners, but scoff and laugh at them. Visitors commented on the
remarkable vanity of the English. In 1497, a Venetian noticed that '"the English are
great lovers of themselves, and of everything belonging to them; they think that there
are no other men than themselves and no other world but England". The picture had
hardly changed by the middle of the 20th century.

TASK 2 Answer the questions in writing:

1. What does geography make?
2. What do the English mean when they say “we should leave Europe”?
3. Do the English see the rest of Europe as their main trouble?
4. Do the English have a very well-developed sense of humor?
5. What factor provided the English with security?
6. Does England have any enemies according to the article?
7. What geography formed idiomatic expressions connected have come into
usage in the English language?
8. What do they suggest?
9. Is the situation any different nowadays?
10. How would you characterize the English?