单选题
According to government statistics, men of all social classes in Britain visit pubs quite regularly,
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the kind of pub they go to may be different and their reasons for going there
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too. Nowadays they often take their wives or girl-friends, which
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to be the case.
The fact is that the typical English pub is changing, partly
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the licensing laws not being so strict as they
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, but also because publicans are trying to
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away with the old Victorian
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of the pub and
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provide couples with an atmosphere where they can both enjoy themselves. Pub used not to open
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at certain times. The result was that they were usually
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with men who seemed to be drinking as much as possible in the time
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. But that kind of pub is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
Curiously enough, the old British licensing laws, which foreigners found so objectionable and absurd, were
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introduced as a
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measure to stop workers drinking in the First World War.
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, the strong Puritanical
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in Parliament took
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of the law and
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it.
Opening hours are
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limited to eight hours a day, but the publican can now choose which hours
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him best. And these days you can even get a cup of coffee if you prefer
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beer. But in spite of this the Puritans would never dream of admitting that a pub could become a repeatable place.