When in Britain, you must never complain. Complaining is very un-British. If you are (1) ______ waiting half an hour in a shop, if a bus (2) ______ is rude to you, if a waiter brings your food ice-cold, you keep your mouth shut. The stiff upper lip is the British way. Other nationalities might make a (3)______, protest loudly or call for the manager, but not the British. Remember also that British ears are simply not tuned to complaints. A friend of mine was a regular (4) ______ at a famous and expensive London restaurant. Every day at 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. the (5)______ manager would come out (as he had been doing for the last 37 years), go from table to table and (6) ______ “Did you enjoy your meal?”. For 37 years, hundreds of thousands of properly (7) ______ up British people had replied to him: “Very much indeed.” The man would smile, say “Thank you very much,” and progress to the next table. One day, however, the lunch was so (8) ______ that my friend (Dutch mother, Albanian father) decided to tell him the naked truth. So, when the antiquated manager appeared at his table as usual and asked, “Did you enjoy your meal, sir?” my friend replied: “(9) ______, not at all. It was appalling.” To which the manager gave his (10) ______, obsequious smile, said: “Thank you very much, sir,” and moved on, quite satisfied.

1. A. made B. kept C. stayed D. held

2. A. conductor B. attendance C. assistant D. steward

3. A. discussion B. argument C. quarrel D. fuss

4. A. supporter B. purchaser C. customer D. guest

5. A. mature B. elderly C. outdated D. vintage

6. A. inquire B. query C. request D. probe

7. A. raised B. grown C. educated D. brought

8. A. offensive B. painful C. abominable D. harrowing

9. A. sincerely B. largely C. bluntly D. frankly

10. A. customary B. average C. commonplace D. daily

1 B kept

2 A conductor

3 D fuss

4 C customer

5 B elderly

6 A inquire

7 D brought

8 C abominable

9 D frankly

10 A customary