Question

How did your friendships begin? Most start with a short conversation on a random day. Asking about a homework assignment in class or complaining about your painful legs after playing in a soccer game, you found your best pal by accident.

“Small talk is where all your relationships begin,” Forbes magazine summed up.

The following is a five-step guide to making small talk from Bernardo J. Carducci, the director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast, US. Let’s have a look.

Getting started

Begin by talking about the setting, such as the weather outside or the room you are in (“It’s cold in here, isn’t it?”). The purpose of talking about the setting is to show the other person that you are willing to make a conversation.

②The personal introduction

You should mention something about yourself, such as your name. A good personal introduction helps move the conversation forward.

③Looking for topics

At this point, you and your conversation partner need to find common ground. This is a good time to ask questions or to refer back to things you’ve said or heard earlier. Don’t worry if it gets quiet. The other person is probably just thinking of something to say.

④Expanding the topic

The goal is to keep the conversation going. At every stage, you should be careful not to talk too much. But don’t let the other person dominate the conversation either. If that starts to happen, mention something about yourself when he or she takes a breath.

⑤A polite ending

When ending a conversation, let the person know you’ll be leaving soon, express gratitude for the conversation and set the stage for a future conversation. For example, you could say, “I really must be going soon, but I had a great time chatting with you. I really liked hearing your opinion about that new movie. Here’s my phone number. Call or text me if you know of any other movies you think I might enjoy.”

1.According to the article, starting by talking about the setting is meant to ________.

A. find common ground                          B. impress the other person

C. make a conversation                         D. make the room warmer

2.What does the underlined word “dominate” mean in Tip④?

A. interrupt                   B. control                  C. adapt          D. simplify 

3.When ending a conversation, you’d better ________.

A. talk about how much you want to keep talking

B. show that you’ve not enjoyed the talk

C. mention a specific movie that you love          

D. give your opinion about the other person’s earlier comments

4.The main purpose of the article is to ________.

A. encourage students to make more friends

B. give students tips on making small talk

C. introduce popular topics for students  

D. teach students how to create friendships

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.D

【解析】

試題分析：文章向?qū)W生介紹了如何通過(guò)聊天建立友誼的技巧。

1.C推理判斷題。“根據(jù)The purpose of talking about the setting is to show the other person that you are willing to make conversation可知談?wù)摥h(huán)境是一個(gè)很好的開(kāi)始談話的契機(jī)，它讓對(duì)方明確領(lǐng)會(huì)你的意圖�！笨梢酝茢郈正確。

2.B詞義猜測(cè)題。根據(jù)“At every stage, you should be careful not to talk too much. But don’t let the other person dominate the conversation either.(每個(gè)步驟，你要十分注意不要說(shuō)得太多，但是也不要讓對(duì)方控制談話)”可知交談的雙方的地位應(yīng)當(dāng)是平衡的，任何一方也不要霸占話語(yǔ)權(quán)。dominate的意思為“支配”也就是“control”的意思。

3.A推理判斷題。根據(jù)step⑤可知答案。一步驟講的是如何結(jié)束聊天的技巧。從所舉例子可以看出：要給予對(duì)方以暗示要結(jié)束談話了，同時(shí)還要傳遞“我很想把本次談話延續(xù)下去”的意思。結(jié)合“When ending a conversation, let the person know you’ll be leaving soon, express gratitude for the conversation and set the stage for a future conversation.”推斷A正確。

4.D主旨大意題。從第一段看這是寫(xiě)給學(xué)生看的。再根據(jù)第一段第一句話“How did your friendships begin? ”可推測(cè)作者的意圖是向?qū)W生介紹如何建立友誼。

考點(diǎn)：說(shuō)明文類(lèi)閱讀理解