A great deal of nonsense is written about the character of
a nation, chiefly because many observers, influenced by national pride and
prejudices, feeling irresistibly tempted to generalize
1. ______ about everything. In a nation of many
millions of people, there bound to be many different kinds: rich and poor,
clever and 2.
______ stupid, good and bad, modest and conceited, patient and impatient,
honest and dishonest. However, a nation may develop a
3. ______ sort of collective character in its
politics and literature which is not recognizable in individual people.
Generalizations therefore tend to be realistic, and should be made and
accepted with
4. ______ caution. One word of warning is necessary.
The British people take
5. ______ up appointments in Asia and Africa are not fully typical of
their nation. For one thing, they and their families live a
completely different life from in Britain. For another thing, they are
usually 6. ______ specialists in one field
or another. The average British person is not a specialist, and because he
can read and write he is not
7. ______ particularly cultured in the intellectual sense. "Highbrow"
is a word very often used by the common people of Britain to describe and
condemn any form of intellectual culture. Moreover, the great technical
achievements of Europeans do not mean that a European is basically more
intelligent than an African or Asian. The achievements are due to the
handing down and sharing of knowledge and organized training and
8.
______ research rather than to mental superiority; and of course
the merely possession of, say, a motor-car or washing-machine and
9. ______ the ability to
operate it, do not require any understanding of how
10. ______ it works.