Practice 1　　Broadly speaking, the Englishman is a quiet, shy, reserved person who is fully relaxed only among people he knows well. In the presence of strangers or foreigners he often seems inhibited, even embarrassed. You have only to witness a commuter train any morning or evening to see the truth of this. Serious-looking businessmen and women sit reading their newspapers or dozing in a comer: no one speaks. In fact, to do so would seem most unusual. An English wit, pretending to be giving advice to overseas visitors, once suggested, “On entering a railway compartment, shake hands with all the passengers.” Needless to say; he was not being serious. There is an unwritten but clearly understood code of behavior which, if broken, makes the person immediately the object of suspicion.　　It is a well-known fact that the English have an obsession with their weather and that, given half a chance, they will talk about it at length. Some people argue that it is because English weather defies forecast and hence is a source of interest and speculation to everyone. This may be so. If a foreigner wants to start a conversation with an Englishman (or woman) but is at a loss to know where to begin, he could-do well to mention the state of the weather. It is a safe subject which will provoke an answer from even the most reserved of Englishmen.