The English are famous for being very polite. They have this passion for queuing and appear to outsiders to have endless patience—as you would expect from a nation that can endure a five-day cricket match. The British queue everywhere for everything, including football tickets, buses, fast food, post offices, government offices, cafeterias, doctors' and dentists'waiting rooms, supermarkets, banks, payphones and so on. Queuing isn't always a necessity , but simply a herd instinct that compels people to huddle together . So join the back of the queue! If there is any confusion about whether there is one queue or more for several different cashiers, you should still wait your turn and stay behind everyone who arrived before you. English people do not try to get to the front first; they are very fair.
英国人是以礼貌闻名的。他们喜欢排队，喜欢向外来者展现出非常有耐心的样子——比如你能想象英国能忍受长达5天的板球比赛吗。英国人做什么事情都会排队，包括买足球票，乘坐公交车，买快餐食品，去邮局寄信，到政府机关办事，去自助餐厅就餐，等待医生或牙医就诊，超市买东西，银行办业务，打付费电话等。有些情况是不用排队的，就是英国人的一种从众心理，让他们都聚在一起排队。所以，去队尾排队吧！就算你不知道出纳员前面是不是有一队，或者几个不同的出纳员前面有好几队，你都应该排队等着，站在比你先到的人的后面。英国人是不会设法到最前面去的，他们是很公平的。
- 拓展学习：小词详解 | huddle
A nation renowned for the art of queuing may be losing its patience, a survey has shown, with the average British adult able to stand in line for only 10 minutes and 42 seconds before tempers start to fray. The most loathed lines were in supermarkets, followed by the Post Office and airport check-in and security. Older respondents over 55 became restless in a queue nearly three minutes before younger people but those aged under 35 were more likely to take their frustration out on those around them. Two thirds of respondents said "faffing", or dawdling, by those in front of them was the thing they hated most.
一项调查显示，向来以喜欢排队著称的英国人可能正在失去耐性：英国成人平均能忍受的排队时间仅为10分42秒，超过这个时间，他们的脾气就变得暴躁起来。英国人最讨厌排队的地方是超市，其次是邮局和在机场办理登机手续及安检。55岁以上的被调查者在排队时，比年轻一些的人要早3分钟失去耐性。但是35岁以下的人更容易把情绪发泄到周围的人身上。2/3的被调查者称他们最讨厌的事情就是前面的人磨蹭或拖拉。
- 拓展学习：小词详解 | loathe
Most Brits would rather avoid queues entirely, with eight in 10 adults instead choosing to pay their bills online, according to the survey by the Payments Council, the body for setting payment strategy in Britain. The online poll of 2,006 adults found that one in five people do their shopping at night to avoid the lines. "Our research shows that more of us are waking up to the fact that you can skip the queue altogether, saving time and money, by using 'queue dodging tactics ' like internet shopping, online banking and paying bills electronically ," said a council spokeswoman.
根据英国付款委员会开展的这项调查，大多数英国人会尽量避免排队，80%的成人会选择在网上付费。该委员会负责英国付款政策的制定。这项涵盖了2006名成年人的在线调查发现，1/5的人在夜间购物，以避免排队。该委员会的一位女发言人说，“调查表明，我们当中越来越多的人正在意识到一个事实，也就是我们其实可以通过像网上购物、网上银行和电子支付等使用‘排队逃避策略’，避免排队，节省时间和金钱。”
- 拓展学习：小词详解 | dodge
