"Other countries have a climate; in England we have
weather. " This statement is often made by Englishmen, which is both revealing
and true. It is revealing because in it we see the Englishman insisting
once again that what happens in England is not the same as what happens
elsewhere; its truth can soon be found by any foreigner who stays in the country
for longer than a few days. It has been said only in England
can one experience four seasons in the course of a single day! Day may break as
a balmy spring morning; an hour later black clouds may have appeared from
nowhere and the rain may be pouring down. At midday conditions may be really
wintry with the temperature down by about eight degrees or more. And then, in
the late afternoon the sky will clear, the sun will begin to shine, and for an
hour or two before darkness falls, it will be summer. In
England one can experience almost every kind of weather except the most extreme.
Some foreigners seem to be under the impression that for ten months of the year
the country is covered by a dense blanket of fog; this is not true. The problem
is that we never can be sure when the different sorts of weather will occur. Not
only do we get several different sorts of weather in one day, but we may very
well get a period of winter in summer and a period of summer in
winter. This uncertainty about the weather has had a definite
effect upon the Englishman’s character; it tends to make him cautious, for
example. The foreigner may laugh when he sees the Englishman setting out on a
sunny morning wearing a raincoat and carrying an umbrella, but he may well
regret his laughter later in the day! The English weather has also helped to
make the Englishman adaptable. It has been said that one of the reasons why the
English colonized (开拓殖民地) so much of the world was that, whatever the weather
conditions they met abroad, they had already experienced something like them at
home! And, of course, the weather’s variety provides a constant
topic of conversation. Even the most unfriendly of Englishmen is always prepared
to discuss the weather. And, though he sometimes complains bitterly of it, he
would not exchange it for the more predictable (可以预防的) climate of other
lands. Which of the following is not the writer’s view
A. Weather is Englishmen’s favorite topic of conversation.
B. For most of the year it is foggy in England.
C. The English weather has affected Englishmen’s character.
D. Englishmen could easily make themselves fit for the local weather
wherever they went.