3 . An opinion poll was conducted in the early 1990s to find out the cultural attitudes of residents of five countries in Western Europe (Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Germany). One thousand people, forming a representative sample of the adult population, from each of the five participating countries were interviewed.
The poll assumed that literature, history, science, arts, law, economics and so on would be regarded as significant elements of culture by all participants, but it set out to examine the areas which they considered the most important forms of cultural expression. In addition, the poll required interviewees to indicate in a questionnaire the type of education they considered most appropriate for the modern world, the best channels of knowledge and arts they most valued. 1
The results of the poll show interesting differences between the participating nations in terms of which components of culture they regard as most important forms of cultural expression. For the French and Italians, literature comes well at the top of the list. 2 History occupies second place for the French, the Italians and Germans but is given very low priority by the British. For the Spanish these four areas are more or less equal, with mathematics having a slight edge.
It seems that members of each country in the survey have a common definition of culture but that definition varies from country to country. 3 The French and Italians are literary peoples, the British scientific and the Germans practical and hard-working.
France has the distinction, according to the results of the poll, of being the country which provokes most interest from its British. Italian and German neighbors. 4 The French also placed Italy first. Italy occupies second place for both the British and the Germans. It would seem, then, that the “literary” nations of France and Italy are more culturally exciting than the scientific British or the practical Germans!
| A．In contrast, mathematics is given priority by the British and economics,/politics by the Germans. |
| B．There are clear differences in the views of various European nations. |
| C．The interviewees were also asked which European country they found most attractive from a cultural point of view. |
| D．Spanish interviewees indicated more interest in Italy than in France. |
| E．The residents of the five countries of the survey share the view that books are the best way of broadening knowledge. |
| F．The variations tend to support the national stereotypes we have of one another. |
