Question

Read the passage and accordingly, fill in the blank:

Here are a couple of generalizations about England that would be accepted by almost all observers. One is that the English are not gifted artistically. They are not as musical as the Germans or Italians. Painting and sculpture have never flourished in England as they have in France. Another is that as Europeans go, the English are not intellectual. They have a horror of abstract thought, they feel no need for any philosophy or systematic 'world-view'. Nor is this because they are 'practical', as they are so fond of claiming for themselves. One has only to look at their methods of town planning and water supply. Their obstinate clinging to everything that is out of date and a nuisance, a selling system that defies analysis and a system of weights and measures that is intelligible only to the compiler of arithmetic books, to see how little they care about mere efficiency. But they have a certain power of acting without taking thought. Their word-famed hypocrisy - their double-faced attitude towards the Empire, for instance - is bound up with this. Also, in moments of supreme crisis, the whole nation can suddenly draw together and act upon a species of instinct, really a code of conduct which is understood almost by everyone, though never formulated.

The English _________________.

• A. stick fanatically to outdated things
• B. cling to everything
• C. are obstinate
• D. are old fashioned

Answer 1

The correct option is A stick fanatically to outdated things

Option A is the right answer because it is clearly mentioned in the passage that - 'Their obstinate clinging to everything that is out of date and a nuisance,'

Obstinate clinging means they stubbornly hold on to outdated things.

There is no evidence in the passage to suggest that Options B, C, and D are the right answers.

Hence, these are incorrect.