Question

In most languages, a greeting is usually followed by “small talk”. Small talk means the little things we talk about at the start of a conversation. In English-speaking countries people often make small talk about the weather. “Nice day, isn’t it?” “Terrible weather, isn’t it?” But there is something special about small talk. It must be about something which both people have the same opinion about. The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something. This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable. People usually agree about the weather, so it is a safe topic for small talk. But people often disagree about religion(宗教) or politics(政治) so these are not suitable topics for small talk. The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place. At football matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching. “Great game, isn’t it?” At bus-stops, people may comment on the transport system. “The bus service is terrible, isn’t it?”

1. 1.
   Small talk is _______________
   1. A.
      a kind of conversation with short words
   2. B.
      a greeting used when people meet each other
   3. C.
      to let people disagree about something
   4. D.
      something we talk about to start a conversation
2. 2.
   The favorite topic of small talk for English people is _________
   1. A.
      the weather
   2. B.
      politics
   3. C.
      games
   4. D.
      languages
3. 3.
   The passage suggests that when we learn a language _________
   1. A.
      we should learn about the transport system of the country
   2. B.
      we should only master the grammar and the vocabulary
   3. C.
      we should learn the culture of the country
   4. D.
      we should understand the importance of the language
4. 4.
   When we say “Great game, isn’t it?”, we are in fact __________
   1. A.
      asking a question
   2. B.
      having a conversation
   3. C.
      greeting each other
   4. D.
      making small talk
5. 5.
   What we learn from the passage is that __________
   1. A.
      different languages have different grammar
   2. B.
      small talk is an important part of a language
   3. C.
      small talk depends on the purpose of the conversation
   4. D.
      in English-speaking countries we should talk about the weather

Answer 1

DACDB
试题分析：本文讲述了在西方文化中，经常用small talk来开始一段对话，而且对话的内容的选择也是有一定讲究的。
1.D 细节题。根据第一段第二句Small talk means the little things we talk about at the start of a conversation.说明D项正确。
2.A 细节题。根据第一段3,4行In English-speaking countries people often make small talk about the weather. “Nice day, isn’t it?” “Terrible weather, isn’t it?”说明天气是谈论较多的话题，故A正确。
3.C 推理题。本题较难，文章中以small talk为题，主要就是告诉我们西方的文化，我们要学习一门语言，很重要的就是学习他们的文化。故C正确。
4.D 推理题。根据文章倒数3,4行The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place. At football matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching. “Great game, isn’t it?”说明这样说的目的就是为了引起一些small talk。故D正确。
5.B 细节题。根据文章第一行In most languages, a greeting is usually followed by “small talk”说明在很多文化中都是以small talk来开始对话的，说明small talk很重要。故B正确。
考点：考查文化类短文阅读
点评：本文讨论了small talk的话题。本文细节题居多，答题时在文章找到对应的地方，用笔进行标记，这有利于后期有时间检查时可以立刻找到答案的位置。仔细理解作者所讲的意思，再结合选项，通过排除法和自己对全文的把握，选出正确答案。