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 or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk in English. 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 about the transport system: “The bus service is terrible, isn't it?”

Greetings and small talk are an important part of conversation in any language. The way people great each and the things they talk about, however, may be different from one language to another. This shows that there is much more to learn when we learn a language than just the vocabulary and the grammar of the language. We also have to learn the social behavior of the people who speak it.

1.Small talk ___.

2.The best topic of small talk is about ___.

3.The passage suggests that when we learn a language ___.

4.When we say “Great game, isn't it?” we in fact___.

5.What we learn from the passage is that ___.

Do you have a pen pal? If not, do you want to have one? Now let me tell you how to get a pen pal. There are usually three steps(步骤)The first is greeting. In this step, you and your new friend will say “hello” to each other and tell names. The second step is to talk. When talking with your new friend, it is always about your age, your family, your favorites or any other things like that. The third step is leave-taking. In this step, you tell your new friend that you are happy to meet him/her. You can also say “Do you want to be my pen pal?” or “ I hope we can be pen pals.”

1.This passage is about ______.

A. how to get a pen pal             

B. how to get to a hotel

      C. how to learn a new language       

2.There are______steps mentioned(被提及)in the passage.

A. two     B. three            C.  four           

3.Which of the following is NOT a greeting?

A. Hi!         

B. Where are you going?   

C. Hello, my name is Jane.          

4.You may talk about your father’s favorite animals in the ____step.

A. first  B. second           C.  third      

5.What does “leave-taking” mean ?

A. Meeting your pen pal.         

B. Visiting your pen pal’s house.

C. Saying goodbye to your pen pal.    

Learning Chinese may seem difficult to foreigners outside China．  36  , Daisy Raffan, an   37  girl in Britain, hopes to bring the language to the young people．Daisy has   38  an online learning website(网站) to teach the language to as   39  people as possible all over the world．  40  China’s fast development in the world, Daisy thinks   41  important for people to learn the language sooner rather than later．Daisy has   42  Putonghua since the age of five．Two years ago, after she decided to pass on what she had learned, this teenager   43  the idea for the website, kids Chinese club．com．She said, “People are afraid to learn Putonghua．One of the main reasons is that they think it’s an   44  language to learn, but I have had fun   45  it．And I hope what have done is easy and fun．”Her   46  offers a series(系列)of lessons, which are videos of Daisy teaching a group of students on topics from greetings and numbers to Chinese culture．

Daisy’s website has   47  the support of several important persons—the teenager   48  she has received a letter praising(赞扬)her work from Gordon Brown, who is the British Prime Minister(首相)．

She said, “I wrote to him and told him what I was doing and got a letter   49 ．He said that what I was doing was a really good  50 ．I thought it was amazing．I was excited that someone so important was supporting what we’re doing．”

1.                A．Otherwise      B．Therefore       C．However  D．By the way

2.                A．5-year-old      B．18-year-old      C．8-year-old D．28-year-old

3.                A．invented        B．discovered      C．wrote    D．set up

4.                A．much          B．few            C．many D．little

5.                A．As             B．When          C．With D．But

6.                A．this            B．that            C．it    D．/

7.                A．taught          B．learnt          C．drew D．talked

8.                A．came out       B．came on        C．came over D．came up with

9.                A．impossible      B．interesting      C．excellent D．easy

10.               A．telling          B．learning        C．writing    D．speaking

11.               A．e-mail          B．magazine       C．essay D．website

12.               A．won           B．made          C．given D．beaten

13.               A．wonders        B．asks           C．doubts    D．says

14.               A．in             B．back           C．down D．up

15.               A．girl            B．design         C．idea  D．person

Learning Chinese may seem difficult to foreigners outside China. However, Daisy Raffan, an
36   girl in Britain, hopes to bring the   37   to the young people.
Daisy has   38   an online learning website to teach the language to as   39   people as possible, all over the world.
With China’s fast development in the world, Daisy thinks   40   important for people to learn the language sooner rather than later.
Daisy has been learning Putonghua   41   the age of five. Two years ago,   42   she decided to pass on what she had learned, she   43   the idea for the website, kidschineseclub.com.
She said: “People are afraid to learn Putonghua. One of the main reasons is that they think it’s an   44   language to learn, but I have had fun   45   it .And I hope what I have done is easy and fun.”
Her   46    offers a series of lessons, which are videos of Daisy teaching a group of students on topics from greetings and numbers to Chinese culture.
Daisy’s website has   47   the support of several important persons —the teenager says she has received a letter praising(赞扬) her work from Gordon Brown,   48   is the British Prime Minister(首相).
She said: “I wrote to him and told him what I was doing and got a letter   49  . He said that what I was doing was a really good idea. I thought it was amazing. I was excited that   50   was supporting what we’re doing.”

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 or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk in English. 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 about the transport system: “The bus service is terrible, isn’t it?”
Greetings and small talk are an important part of conversation in any language. The way people great each and the things they talk about, however, may be different from one language to another. This shows that there is much more to learn when we learn a language than just the vocabulary and the grammar of the language. We also have to learn the social behavior of the people who speak it.
【小题1】Small talk ___.