Prime Time 7, Coursebook plus Semester Self-checks

Reading: The hidden rules of English behaviour Read the text about the hidden rules of English behaviour. First decide whether the statements (1–6) are true (T) or false (F) and put a cross ( ✘ ) in the correct box. Then identify the sentence in the text which supports your decision. Write the first four words of this sentence in the space provided. There may be more than one correct answer; write down only one. The first one (0) has been done for you. 3  I mentioned earlier that there are two possible reactions: pretending that other people do not exist, and also, much of the time, pretending that we do not exist either. On public transport, it is considered unseemly to draw attention to oneself. There are people who break this rule, talking and laughing loudly with each other instead of hiding quietly behind their newspapers in the approved manner, but they have always been a much-frowned-upon minority. Until the advent of the mobile phone, which brings out the ostrich in us: just as the dimwit ostrich with its head in the sand believes that it is invisible, the dimwit English passenger on a mobile phone imagines that he or she cannot be heard. People on mobiles often seem to go about in a little personal bubble, unaware of the crowds around them, connected only to the person at the other end of the phone. They will happily discuss the details of their domestic or business affairs, matters that would normally be considered private or confidential, in tones loud enough for half a train carriage to hear. Tremendously useful for eavesdropping nosey researchers I get a lot of data from mobile-phone ostriches – but irritating for all the other passengers. Not that they would actually do anything about it, of course, except tut and sigh and roll their eyes and shake their heads. We are not all ostriches. Many English passengers – the majority, even – are smart enough to realise that other people can in fact hear what you are saying on your mobile, and we do our best to keep our voices down. The insensitive loudmouths are still a minority, but they are a highly noticeable and annoying minority. Part of the problem is that the English will not complain – not directly, to the person making the noise, only quietly to each other, or to colleagues when they get to work, or to their partner when they get home, or in letters to the newspapers. Our television and radio comedy programmes are full of amusing sketches about the infuriating stupidity of noisy mobile-phone ostriches, and the banality or utter pointlessness of their “I’m on the train!” conversations. Newspaper columnists are equally witty on the subject. In typically English fashion, we channel our anger, into endless clever jokes and ritual moans, endless pages of print and hours of airtime, but fail to address the real source of the problem. (From: Kate Fox, Watching the English. The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour ) 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Statements T F First four words 0 According to the author it is considered good behaviour to draw attention to yourself on public transport. ✘ On public transport, it 1 The author says that people who use mobile phones on public transport behave like ostriches. 2 The mobile phone gives people the impression that they cannot be heard. 3 Mobile phone ostriches keep their voices down in order not to be heard. 4 People tend to react dismissively when others use their mobile phones in an inappropriate way on public transport. 5 As only few people use their mobiles in public, they are hardly noticable. 6 According to the author British passengers react aggres- sively towards people who use their mobiles on trains. Can understand articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems in which the writers adopt particular stances or viewpoints. (B2) 21 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv