When you are in Britain, you should know the rules for eye contact. In dealing with strangers the rule for British society is that you must not stare at them but at the same time you cannot ignore them. Passing strangers in the street, you may look at the strangers until they are about eight feet away, then your glances must move away as they pass. Generally speaking strangers feel comfortable looking at one another at a distance. The closer they are, the greater the tendency（趋向） to avoid eye contact. This can be observed in a crowded lift where strangers’ glances fly from one spot to another.
However, British practice needs eye contact when they are communicating with each other. There is a saying in English, “Don’t trust anyone who won’t look at you in the eye.” Not looking at the person could mean a number of things, including fear, contempt（不尊敬）, uneasiness（不安）, guilt（内疚） or indifference（冷漠）. Even for a lecturer speaking to his audience there is plenty of eye contact. To bury one’s nose in one’s manuscript is not welcome. This is not to say that people talking to one another will look directly into one another’s eyes all the time. British people normally look at the other person’s eyes much longer when they are listening than when speaking. When they are about to stop speaking and start listening they look at the other person’s eyes to signal they are about to change role.
Staring at people is considered rude in Britain and young children will be reprimanded（训斥 ） by their parents if they look too long at another person. Many English people traveling to some countries find being looked at intensely uncomfortable.
So, dear friends, when you are in England, you should know when you should look at others and when you shouldn’t.
Tasks:
1. An Englishman can ______ at strangers for a while but not _______ at them.
2. When you meet a stranger who is 15 feet away from you, you had better _______ at him.
3. In a crowded lift, strangers’ glances _______ from one spot to another.
4. In England it is _______ for a person to stare at people