The British are very polite and have good manners—they are never tired of saying “Thank you”，“I am sorry”， or “Excuse me.” They have good table manners. They enjoy their breakfasts and most of all the traditional tea around 4 or 5 o’clock. The normal working week has five days. Factory workers usually start at 8 am and offices, shops and schools open at 9 am. Workers have 3 weeks’ holidays and professional workers(people with higher education ) have usually longer holidays (a month or more). Except these holidays they have public holidays: e.g. New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. An average Englishman like to live in his own house. Houses are made of red bricks, stone and wood. The house usually has from 4 to 6 rooms, two floors, small front and back gardens. On the ground floor there is a hall, a kitchen, a living room with a fireplace and on the first floor there are parents’ and children’s bedrooms and a bathroom. The prices of houses depend on the area—the most expensive are the houses in London and South England (about 200,000 pounds); smaller houses in other areas may cost about 50,000 pounds. Social Welfare—The National Health Service gives largely free treatment for everyone living in Britain. People can choose their family doctors. In case of emergency you can call the ambulance by dialing 999 from everywhere. Health centres are run by local authorities. About 7 percent of hospitals, dentists and family doctors work as private. There are about 130 daily and Sunday newspapers and a lot of weekly papers and magazines. The oldest newspaper is The Times. Other famous newspapers are Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, Financial Times, etc. 小题1:If you are a student in Britain, when do you begin to go to school?
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