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Read the text and do the tasks that follow.

NORTH AND SOUTH*

In every country there are regional differences. People living in one region make jokes about the characteristics (real or imagined) of people living in another. Television is breaking down regional differences, but the jokes and comments continue. In Britain there are many jokes which begin 'There was an Englishman, an Irishman, a Scotsman and a Welshman, and...'. In England itself there are myths about every region, but the broadest differences are those between the North and the South. There are real geographical and economic variations; the North can be characterized as more industrial, cooler, hillier and more working-class, the South as middle-class, more suburban, flatter and wealthier. There are also the often irrational things the English say about each other. Several people were asked to comment on the differences. Perhaps the most interesting comment was made by a woman from Lancashire (in the North), who said: 'Southerners? I can't stand them. They're stuck-up and snobbish. But at least they're not as bad as bloody Yorkshiremen!'

As Yorkshire is also in the North, it shows that the most violent prejudices are very localized.

Here are some of the comments we collected.

What some Northerners say: 'If you go into a pub in the South, everybody ignores you. The North is much more direct and friendly. We're real people.'

'You know the old saying... people in the North earn the money, people in the South count it.'

'As you go North, the beer gets better.'

'I think there's more sense of community. Perhaps we interfere more — but we help each other too.'

'Southerners? They don't like getting their hands dirty. They stand around in wine bars, covered with talcum powder and after-shave, talking posh.'

'I was born in Manchester, but I live in the South. You know, I think things are better in the South for women. Northern men seem to want to get down the pub on their own and avoid women. Men in the South help more in the home — that's a statistic. Northern men are more... more macho.'

'They think they're better than us — just because they talk posh. They're a load of snobs.'

'In Yorkshire we say what we mean. Southerners think we're bloody rude, but we're more blunt and honest. They smile in your face and stab you in the back.'

‘If you go to London, keep your hand on your wallet. They'd rob their own grandmothers.'

'Liverpudlians are the funniest people in the country. They've got this marvellous natural sense of humour.’

'The North may be dirtier — but don't forget "where there's muck there's brass".’ (i.e. where there's dirt, there's money.)

What some Southerners say: 'Actually some of my best friends are Northerners, but of course they're not typical Northerners, if you know what I mean.'

'The North? A load of men with heavy colds, standing round in pubs wearing cloth caps, swilling beer and playing darts.'

'They spend their money on beer and Bingo. We probably earn less, but we spend it on our houses. When they come down here, they think we're all rich. We're probably worse off then them.'

'I used to work in Yorkshire. They're all bloody rude, and bloody mean.'

'They live on sticky buns, tripe and black pudding. The food's much more varied down here.'

'I really think the North's more conservative... I'm not talking about politics, but their attitude to life. Things change more here.'

'They say we "talk posh" — we just speak better English, that's all.'

'There's more equality of the sexes in the South. Northerners treat women like doormats. Mind you, the women go round in curlers all day on Saturday — or they used to ten years ago.'

'They've got a massive inferiority complex. They imagine that we're all either stockbrokers, or country bumpkins with straw in our mouths. The prejudice comes more from them. They don't see that we're just like them.'

'I'm a Southerner - but I do find the North much warmer... the people, that is, not the weather... and friendlier... more genuine, I think.'

* For more information on regional and national stereotypes and prejudices see Supplement Character and characteristics: a humorous look at stereotypes.