D

　　Wise compromise is one of the basic principle and virtue of the British.

　　If a continental greengrocer asks 14 shillings (or crowns, or francs) for a bunch of radishes, and his customer offer 2, and finally they strike a bargain agreeing on 6 shilling, this is just the low continental habit of bargaining; on the other hand if the British dock-workers or any other workers claim a rise of 4 shillings per day, and the employer first flatly refuse even a penny, but after a six week’s strike they agree to a rise of 2 shilling a day—that is yet another proof of the British genius for compromise. Bargaining is a hateful habit; compromise is one of the highest human virtues—the difference between the two is that the first is practiced on the continent, the latter in Great Britain.

　　The genius for compromise has another aspect, too. It has a tendency to unite together everything that is bad. English club life, for instance, unites the duties of social life with the boredom of being alone. An average English house combines all the curses of civilizations with the ups and downs of life in the open. It is all right to have windows, but you must do not have double windows because double would indeed stop the wind from blowing right into the room, and after all, you must be fair and give the wind a chance. It is all right to have central heating in an English home, except in the bathroom, because that is the only place where you are naked and wet at the same time, and you must give British germs a fair chance. The open fire is an accepted, indeed a traditional institution. You sit in front of it and your face is hot while your back is cold. It is a fair compromise between two extremes and settles the problem of how to burn and catch cold at the same time.

　　English spelling is a compromise between documentary expressions and an delicate code-system; spending 3 hours in a queue in front of a cinema is a compromise between entertainment and asceticism(苦行主义); the English weather is a fair compromise between rain and fog; to employ an English charwoman is a compromise between have a dirty house or cleaning it yourself; Yorkshire pudding is a compromise between a pudding and the county of Yorkshire.

32．What is the tone of author while writing this passage？

A．Serious. 　　　　　　B．Sincere.

C．Humorous. 　　　　　D．Delightful.

33．Which of the following is NOT the example of compromise of the British in the passage？

A．The employer finally promises his workers a rise of 2 shilling a day.

B．People sit in front an open fire and their face is hot while their back is cold.

C．The house has double windows and central heating system in the bathroom.

D．To see a film，some people would like to wait in a queue for 3 hours.

34．What is the weather like in Britain according to the passage？

A．It is foggy when it is raining.

B．It is determined by humidity.

C．It is sunny and bright.

D．It is either foggy or rainy.

35．Where does this text probably come from？

A．A Culture Magazine. 　　B．The Business Weekly.

C．A Travel Brochure. 　　D．An English Literature Textbook.