Questions 23-26

(Man) Good morning. I've been interested to read your last week's composition assignments on the Englishman's obsession with the weather, which is a characteristic noted with amusement and surprise by so many of our visitors from abroad. It's true that talking about the weather is a staple topic of conversation in this country, but as a native speaker and an expert on socio-linguistics, I am of the opinion that the reasons for this practice are not only climatic but also social.

Greeting people with expressions such as "Lovely day, isn't it?" or "What a terrible weather we're having, aren't we?" is our way of being friendly or starting a conversation. It may have very little to do with the state of the weather as such when the conversation starts. As a matter of fact, we expect the other person to say "Yes, it is. "or "Yes, we are." in the same way that we expect a person to say "Hullo!" when we say "Hullo!" to greet him or her. However, this distinctive social convention can be very puzzling to foreigners.

Of course, this way of making conversation is closely related to the variability of the weather in this country. There must be few places in the world where the weather changes quite so much from day to day. If you drive a car on one of our motorways, you may find yourself in the sunshine, mist, rain, snow or even storms within the same day. No wonder we take a daily interest in it! But I do think we are much too fond of running down our own climate, which is not half as bad as some people make out. Our obsession is not so much with talking about the weather as with speaking ill of it. It may as well be talking for talking's sake.

23. According to the talk, what is a typical Englishman obsessed with?

24. To whom is the man addressing his speech?

25. Why does the Englishman say, "Lovely day, isn't it?"

26. Which of the following can be concluded from the talk?