Informal conversation is an important part of any business relationship. Before
题型：不详难度：来源：
Informal conversation is an important part of any business relationship. Before you start a discussion, however, make sure you understand which topics are suitable and which are considered taboos(禁忌) in a particular culture. Latin Americans enjoy sharing information about their local history, art, and customs. They expect questions about their family and are sure to show pictures of their children. Yon may feel free to ask similar questions of your Latin American friends. The French think of conversation as an art form, and they enjoy the value of lively discussions as well as disagreements. For them, arguments can be interesting — and they can cover pretty much or any topic — as long as they occur in a respectful and intelligent(智慧的) manner.
In the United States, business people like to discuss a wide range of topics, including opinions about work, family, hobbies, and politics. In Japan, China, and Korea, however, people are much more private. They do not share much about their thoughts, feelings, or emotions because they feel that doing so might take away from the harmonious(和谐的) business relationship they’re trying to build. Middle Easterners are also private about their personal lives and family matters. It is considered rude, for example, to ask a businessman from Saudi Arabia about his wife or children.
As general rule, it’s best not to talk about politics or religion(宗教) with your business friends. This can get you into trouble, even in the United States, where people hold different views. In addition, discussing one’s salary is usually considered unsuitable. Sports is typically a friendly subject in most parts of the world, although be careful not to criticize a national sport. Instead, be friendly and praise your host’s team.
小题1:The author considers politics and religion ________.| A．cheerful topics | B．taboos | | C．rude topics | D．topics that can never be talked about |
小题2:Which is typically a friendly topic in most places according to the author?| A．Sports. | B．Children. | | C．Personal feelings. | D．Families. |
小题3:Why are people from Asia more private in their conversation with others?| A．They don’t want to talk with others much. | | B．They don’t want to have their good relationship with others harmed by informal conversation. | | C．They are afraid to argue with their colleagues. | | D．They want to keep their feelings to themselves. |
小题4:What shouldn’t you do when talking about sports with colleagues from another country?| A．Praising your own country’s sports. | | B．Criticizing your own country’s sports. | | C．Praising the sports of your colleagues’ country. | | D．Criticizing the sports of your colleagues’ country. |
|
答案
小题1:B
小题2:A
小题3:B
小题4:D |
解析
非正式谈话是任何商业联系中的一个重要组成部分，不过谈话时，可别无所顾忌，一定要适可而止。
小题1:语义理解题。从最后一段第1句话As general rule, it’s best not to talk about politics or religion(宗教) with your business friends 可以明显看出答案为什么选B。
小题2:细节题。命题依据是最后一段第4句话Sports is typically a friendly subject in most parts of the world。
小题3:判断题。从第2段第3句话…because they feel that doing so might take away from the harmonious(和谐的) business relationship they’re trying to build可以推知。
小题4:语义理解题。根据最后一段第4句话中的…although be careful not to criticize a national sport 可知答案为D。 |
举一反三
To face the music
Like every language, American English is full of special expressions, phrases that come from the day-to-day life of the people and develop in their own way. Our expression today is “to face the music”.
When someone says, “well, I guess I’ll have to face the music,” it does not mean he’s planning to go to the concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in by your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you didn’t do this or that. Sour music indeed, but it has to be faced. At sometime or another, every one of us has had to face the music, especially as children. We can all remember father’s angry voice, “I want to talk to you.” and only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!
The phrase “to face the music” is familiar to every American, young and old. It is at least 100 years old. And where did this expression come from? The first explanation comes from the American novelist, James Fenimore Looper. He said, in 1851, that the expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings to go on the stage. When they got their cue to go on, they often said, “Well, it’s time to face the music.” And that was exactly what they did — facing the orchestra which was just below them. And an actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of an audience that might be friendly or perhaps hostile, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So the expression “to face the music” come to mean “having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.”
Other explanations about the expression go back to the army. When the men faced an inspection by their leader, the soldiers would be worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean, shinny enough to pass the inspection? Still the men had to go out and face the music of the band as well as the inspection. What else could they do?
Another army explanation is more closely related to the idea of facing the results and accepting the responsibility for something that should not have been done. As, for example when a man is forced out of the army because he did something terrible, he is dishonored. The band does not play. Only the drums tap a sad, slow beat. The soldier is forced to leave, facing such music as it is and facing the back of his horse.
小题1: How many ways does the phrase “to face the music” comes from? 小题2:What’s the meaning of “to face the music?” | A．To face something far less pleasant. | | B．To face the stage. | | C．To face the back of one’s horse. | | D．To face one’s leader. |
小题3:Which of the following is a situation of facing the music? | A．When we are playing basketball. | | B．When we are making a speech. | | C．When we are having a party. | | D．When we are talking with somebody. |
小题4:The underlined word “hostile” means _______. | A．unfriendly | B．dislike | C．unkind | D．unnecessary |
|
A characteristic of American culture that has become almost a tradition is to respect the self-made man — the man who has risen to the top through his own efforts, usually beginning by working with his hands. While the leader in business or industry or the college professor occupies a higher social position and commands greater respect in the community than the common laborer or even the skilled factory worker, he may take pains to point out that his father started life in America as a farmer or laborer of some sort.
This attitude toward manual(体力的) labor is now still seen in many aspects of American life. One is invited to dinner at a home that is not only comfortably but even luxuriously (豪华地) furnished and in which there is every evidence of the fact that the family has been able to afford foreign travel, expensive hobbies, and college education for the children; yet the hostess probably will cook the dinner herself, will serve it herself and will wash dishes afterward, furthermore the dinner will not consist merely of something quickly and easily assembled from contents of various cans and a cake or a pie bought at the nearby bakery. On the contrary, the hostess usually takes pride in careful preparation of special dishes. A professional man may talk about washing the car, digging in his flowerbeds, painting the house. His wife may even help with these things, just as he often helps her with the dishwashing. The son who is away at college may wait on table and wash dishes for his living, or during the summer he may work with a construction gang on a highway in order to pay for his education.
小题1:From paragraph 1, we can know that in America _________.
A. people tend to have a high opinion of the self-made man
B. people can always rise to the top through their won efforts
C. college professors win great respect from common workers
C. people feel painful to mention their fathers as labors.
小题2:According to the passage, the hostess cooks dinner herself mainly because _________.| A．servants in American are hard to get | | B．she takes pride in what she can do herself | | C．she can hardly afford servants | | D．It is easy to prepare a meal with canned food |
小题3:The expression “ wait on table” in the second paragraph means “_________”.| A．work in a furniture shop | B．keep accounts for a bar | | C．wait to lay the table | D．serve customers in a restaurant |
小题4:Which of the following may serve as the best title of the passage?| A．A Respectable Self-made Family | B．American Attitude toward Manual Labor | | C．Characteristics of American Culture | D．The Development of Manual Labor |
|
CARDIFF, Wales Poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered in Wales to celebrate the tradition(传统) of storytelling.
“It might seem strange that people still want to listen in age of watching television, but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again,” said David Ambrose, director of Beyond the Border, an international storytelling festival(节) in Wales.
“Some of the tales, like those the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old. So our storytellers have come from distant lands to connect us with the distance of time,” he said early this month.
Two Inuit women, both in their mid 60s, are among the few remaining who can do Kntadjait, or throat singing, which has few words and much sound. Their art is governed by the cold of their surroundings, forcing them to say little but listen attentively.
Ambrose started the festival in 1993, after several years of working with those reviving (coming back into use or existence) storytelling in Wales.
“It came out of a group of people who wanted to reconnect with traditions. and as all the Welsh are storytellers, it was in good hands here.” Ambrose said.
小题1:Ambrose believes that the art of storytelling _______.| A．will be more popular than TV | | B．will be popular again | | C．started in Wales | | D．are in the hands of some old people |
小题2:From the tales told by the Inuit, people can learn _______.| A．about their life as early as thousands of years ago | | B．why they tell the stories in a throat-singing way | | C．how cold it has been where the Inuit live | | D．how difficult it is to understand the Inuit |
小题3:According to the writer, which of the following is NOT true?| A．Storytelling once stopped in Wales. | | B．Storytelling has a long history in Wales. | | C．Storytelling is always well received in Wales. | | D．Storytelling did not come back until 1993 in Wales. |
小题4:The underlined phrase in good hands means _______.| A．controlled by rich people | B．grasped by good storytellers | | C．taken good care of | D．protected by kind people |
|
There are several ways you can find out about the countries and places you wish to visit. You can talk to friends who have travelled to the places. Or you can go and see a colour film. Or you can read travel books.
It would seem that there are three kinds of travel books. The first are those that give a personal, subjective(主观的) account of travels which the author has actually made himself. if they are informative and have a good index(索引), then they can be useful to you when you are planning your travels. The second kind are those books whose purpose is to give a purely objective(客观的) description of things to be done and seen. If a well-read, cultured person has written such a book, then it is even more useful. It can be sorted as a selected guide book. The third kind are those books which are called “a guide” to some place or other. If they are good, they will, in addition to their factual information, give an analysis or an explanation. Like the first kind they can be inspiring and interesting. But their basic purpose is to help the reader who wishes to plan in the most practical way.
Whatever kind of travel book you choose you must make sure that it does not describe everything as “wonderful”, “excellent” or “magical”. You must also note its date of publication because travel is a very practical affair and many things change quickly in the twenty-first century. Finally, you should make sure that the contents are well presented and easy to find.
小题1:This passage is about _______.| A．how to travel | B．how to buy travel books | | C．how to read a travel book | D．travel books |
小题2:The following travel books may be of use when you plan your travels except _______.| A．the book written by some people who have had the same travel experience themselves | | B．the book which tells you what is worth doing and seeing based on the facts | | C．the book in which a lot of big adjectives are used to draw your attention | | D．the book which offers you a lot of useful information like a tour guide |
小题3: The date of the publication must be noticed because _______.| A．the world is changing and so are the places you are going to visit | | B．the price of the book is always changing | | C．the author of the book may be different | | D．the contents of the book are always the same |
|
Lucky is the man who has no “skeleton in his closet”. When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a “skeleton in his closet”. Some people may have more than one skeleton.
As we have noted many times, it is hard to find out how these expressions begin. Sometimes, we get some hard facts. But more often we have to depend on guesswork. And that is true of this phrase, which came from England.
Before 1932, English law did not permit a doctor to cut open a dead human body for scientific examination, unless it was the corpse(尸体) of an executed(处决) criminal.
But when it became legal, more and more doctors demanded skeletons for a more scientific study of medicine. It was helping in the advance of modern medicine. The demand had become so strong that men began to rob tombs and sell skeletons to doctors at high prices.
We are told that a doctor would usually buy just one skeleton for scientific study. It became very important in his work. But he had to keep it hidden because most people objected to keeping such a thing. As a rule, the doctor would keep his skeleton in some dark corner where it could not be seen, or hide it in a closet.
After a time, people began to suspect(怀疑) every doctor of hiding a skeleton in the closet. From this suspicion, the phrase “a skeleton in the closet” took on a broader, more general meaning to describe anything that a man wanted to keep others from discovering. It could be proof of a criminal act, or something much less serious. Well, that is one theory.
One writer, however, believes that the phrase might have come from something that really happened. It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton, clear proof of some old family shame or crime. Well, one man’s guess is as good as another. But this sounds like a story by the great French novelist, Balzac.
Baizac tells us of a man who suspected his wife of having a lover. The husband comes home by surprise. But she hears him and quickly hides her lover in the closet of her bedroom. He enters her room and asks her if she is hiding her lover. He says he will not open the door to the closet if she promises him there is no one there; He will believe her. She answers firmly that she is not hiding anyone in the closet.
The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet. His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never come out alive. But she will not change her story and admit her guilt.
小题1:Which of the following situations is suitable for using the phrase “skeleton in the closet” ?| A．You have stolen something precious and don’t want it discovered. | | B．You are a doctor and have to keep a skeleton for research. | | C．If you have cut open a dead human body for scientific examination you should keep the skeleton secret. | | D．You have done a crime or done something foolish, but you want to keep other from discovering it. |
小题2:From the text we know that there are _______ theories about how the phrase “skeleton in the closet” came into being. | A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
小题3:In Chinese the world “skeleton” means _______. 小题4:Which of the following is right according to the text?| A．In the 20th century, doctors realized the importance of anatomy(解剖) in the development of medicine. | | B．The doctors of the ancient times liked to collect as many skeleton as possible. | | C．The thieves stole skeletons from tombs in order to help the doctors. | | D．It was legal that corpses of anybody were cut open for scientific examination in history. |
小题5:From the story Balzac told we know that the wife’s lover must have become _______. | A．a corpse | B．a phrase | C．a skeleton | D．a secret |
|
最新试题
热门考点