Question

Silence is unnatural to man．He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness．In between he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and he fears silence more than anything else．Even his conversation is an attempt to prevent a fearful silence．If he is introduced to another person, and a number of pauses occur in the conversation, he regards himself as a failure, a worthless person, and is full of envy of the emptiest headed chatterbox（喋喋不休的人）.He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than the buzzing of a fly, but he is anxious to join in the buzz and to prove that he is a man and not a waxwork figure（蜡塑人像）.

The aim of conversation is not, for the most part, to communicate ideas; it is to keep up the buzzing sound. There are, it must be admitted, different qualities of buzz; there is even a buzz that is as annoying as the continuous noise made by a mosquito （蚊子）.But at a dinner party one would rather be a mosquito than a quiet person. Most buzzing, fortunately, is pleasant to the ear, and some of it is pleasant even to the mind. He would be a foolish man if he waited until he had a wise thought to take part in the buzzing -with his neighbors.

Those who hate to pick up the weather as a conversational opening seem to me not to know the reason why human beings wish to talk. Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new. Some of them are content if they are merely allowed to go on making a noise into other people's ears, though they have nothing to tell them except that they have seen two or three new plays or that they had food in a Swiss hotel. At the end of an evening during which they have said nothing meaningful for a long time, they just prove themselves to be successful conservationists.

1.According to the passage, people usually talk to their neighbors_____.

A．in the hope of learning something new

B．in the hope of getting on well

C．about whatever they want to

D．about whatever they have prepared

2.According to the author, people make conversation to______.

A．achieve success in life

B．overcome their fear of silence

C．exchange ideas

D．prove their value

3.What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

A．To persuade people to stop making noises．

B．To explain why people keep talking．

C．To discuss why people like talking about weather．

D．To encourage people to join in conversations．

4.By "the buzzing of a fly"(Para.1), the author means"_____".

A．the voice of a chatterbox

B．meaningless talk sound

C．a low whispering

D．the noise of an insect

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.C

2.B

3.B

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文的作者了解释人们为什么会交谈。大多数的交谈是害怕沉默而进行的毫无意义的交谈

1.推理题：从第三段的句子：Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new.可知和邻居的谈话是无所不谈。选C

2.细节题：从第一段的句子：Even his conversation is an attempt to prevent a fearful silence．可知人们的交谈是害怕沉默。选B

3.主旨题：从第二段的句子：The aim of conversation is not, for the most part, to communicate ideas; it is to keep up the buzzing sound.可知作者是解释人们为什么会交谈。选B

4.猜词题：从前面的句子：He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than 可知the buzzing of a fly是指毫无意义的交谈。选B

考点：考查社会现象类短文

点评：本文的作者了解释人们为什么会交谈。这篇文章要先看问题，再带着问题仔细阅读短文，理解了全文内容，很容易选出正确答案。阅读短文时，常常会遇到一些生词。这时，要沉着，冷静，细心思考。首先要把整段、整篇文章看完。猜词题主要通过对全篇短文的理解，和单词所在句子的前后的暗示，就很有可能猜测出生词的大意。