A Popular Pastime of the English People

One of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what the do with their non-working time.

Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers. Visitors to England in spring, summer or autumn are likely to see gardens all they way along the railway lines. There are flowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least one park with beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings of every kind have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them.

But what the English enjoy most is growing things themselves. If it is impossible to have a garden, then a window box or something growing in a pot will do. Looking at each other’s gardens is a popular pastime with the English.

Useful Words and Expressions:

1. window box:窗台上的花盆箱

2.pastime 消遣，娱乐

Swimming is my favorite pastime.

British and American Police Officers

Real policemen, both in Britain and the U.S., hardly recognize any common points between their lives and what they se on TV—if they ever get home in time.

Some things are almost the same, of course, but the policemen do not think much of them much of them.

The first difference is that a policeman’s real life deals with the law. Most of what he learns is the law. He has to know actually what actions are against the law and what facts can be used to prove them in court. He has to know nearly as much law as a lawyer, and what’s more, he has to put it into practice on his feet, in the dark and, running down a narrow street after someone he wants to talk to.

Little of his time is spent in talking with beautiful girls or in bravely facing cruel criminals. He will spend most of his working life arranging millions of words on thousands of fomp3s about hundreds of sad, ordinary people who are guilty--- or not of stupid, unimportant crimes.

Useful Words and Expressions:

1. think much of 重视，尊重

2. in court 在法庭上

3. criminal 罪犯，犯罪者

4. guilty 犯罪的，有罪的