You are a new manager at the American branch of your German firm in Chicago. With a few minutes to spare between meetings, you go to get a quick cup of coffee.

“Hey, David, how are you?” one of the senior partners at the firm asks you.

“Good, thank you, Dr. Greer,” you reply. You’ve really been wanting to make a connection with the senior leadership at the firm, and this seems like a great opportunity. But as you start to think of something to say, your American colleague breaks in to steal your spotlight.

“So Arnold”, your colleague says to your boss, in such a casual manner that it makes your German soul cringe(畏縮), “So what’s your Super bowl prediction? I mean, you’re a Niners fan, right?” The conversation moves on, and you walk silently back to your desk with your coffee. You know how important small talk is in the U. S. , and you feel jealous of people who can do it well.

There’s nothing small about the role that small talk plays in American professional culture. People from other countries are often surprised at how important small talk is in the U. S. and how naturally and comfortably people seem to do it—with peers，men，women，and even with superiors. You can be the most technically skilled worker in the world, but your ability to progress in your job in the United States is highly dependent on your ability to build and maintain positive relationships with people at work. And guess what skill is critical for building and maintaining these relationships? Small talk.

What can you do if you are from another culture and want to learn to use small talk in the U. S. to build relationships and establish trust? Work hard to hone(磨練)your own version of American-style small talk. Watch how others do it. You don’t have to mimic what they do; in fact, that would likely backfire because people would see you as inauthentic. But if you can develop your own personal version, that can go a long way toward making you feel comfortable.

1. The author introduces the topic of the passage by __________.

A. raising an interesting question

B. telling a small jokes

C. making comparisons

D. describing an interesting scene

2.What do we know about German people?

A. They usually make small talk in work breaks.

B. They don’t make so much small talk.

C. They hate making small talk.

D. They are good at making small talk too.

3. What makes people from other countries surprised in American professional culture?

A. The role small talk plays in work settings.

B. American workers’ attitude towards superiors.

C. The special meaning of small talk.

D. American workers’ ability to make progress.

4.What does “backfire” underlined in the last paragraph mean?

A. be difficult B. be helpful

C. have the opposite effect D. have a good result

練習冊系列答案
相關(guān)習題

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆遼寧實驗中學分校高三12月月考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：完形填空

完形填空,閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項（A,B,C,D）中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂上。

I was 14 years old. I was angry and rebellious, with regard for anything my parents had to say, if it had nothing to do with me. Like so many , I struggled to escape from anything that didn’t my picture of the world. As a “ brilliant without need of guidance” kid, I rejected any obvious of love. In fact, I got angry at the of the word “l(fā)ove”.

One , after an extremely difficult day, I into my room, shut the door loudly and fell down onto my bed heavily. As I lay down in the privacy of my , my hands placed under my pillow. There was an envelope. I pulled it out and on the envelope it said, “To when you’re alone.”

I was alone, no one would know whether I read it or not. So I opened it. It said，“Mike，I know life is right now, I know you are frustrated and I know we don’t do everything right. I also know that I love you and nothing you do or say will ever change that. I am here for you if you ever need to talk. If you don’t, that’s also . Just know that no matter where you go or whatever you do in your life, I will always love you and be that you are my son. I’m here for you and I love you-that will never .Love you, Mom.”

Every night as I went to bed, I would put my hands under my , and I remember the _ I felt every time I got a letter. During my teen years, the letters were the calm assurance that I still could be loved my anger and rudeness. Just before I fell I became grateful that my mom knew what I, an angry teenager, needed.

1.A. little B. all C. full D. high

2.A. seldom B. sometimes C. currently D. particularly

3.A. families B. adults C. people D. teenagers

4.A. hang up B. lift up C. agree with D. deal with

5.A. attempt B. offer C. request D. advice

6.A. risk B. proposal C. mention D. point

7.A. night B. day C. morning D. afternoon

8.A. slipped B. stormed C. sank D. slid

9.A. bed B. floor C. closet D. chair

10.A. answer B. seal C. read D. tear

11.A. If B. When C. Though D. Since

12.A. serious B. awful C. amazing D. exciting

13.A. entirely B. gently C. heavily D. personally

14.A. impossible B. terrible C. right D. okay

15.A. nervous B. sorry C. proud D. sure

16.A. last B. change C. happened D. start

17.A. pillow B. book C. desk D. door

18.A. relaxation B. sadness C. relief D. thrill

19.A. in spite of B. instead of C. ahead of D. in need of

20.A. ill B. down C. silent D. asleep

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學年浙江臺州中學高二上第三次統(tǒng)練英語試卷（解析版） 題型：七選五

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項中選出能填入空白處（第1-4題）的最佳選項。選項中有兩項為多余選項。

Texting (發(fā)短信) is nearly universal among people with cell phones. While texting can be a great way to stay in touch and to share the feelings of daily life, it sure has a downside. 1. Read on to learn why it is time to put the phone down — even if it’s just for an hour or an afternoon.

2. We all know that cell phone use during the week hours can disturb our sleep patterns, but it's also true that texting during the day could harm our ability to get a good night’s sleep. In a recent study, researchers found that the more people texted during the day, the poorer their sleep was.

Your posture (姿勢) is suffering. Texting can actually harm your whole body. People get so focused on their phones that they end up holding their neck and upper back in uncomfortable positions for a long time. That’s why people coined the phrase ‘text neck’, which refers to postural pain. 3. Bring your phone to eye level while you use it. Oh, and give your phone a rest!

4. Your texting could be a liability to the people around you. A recent study found that one in three people was distracted by mobile devices while walking. And texting walkers were four times more likely to ignore traffic lights and fail to look both ways at a cross.

Your school or work performance will suffer. Researchers discovered students texting too much gave worse performance in class. 5. Just reading or sending a text while working can increase the number of mistakes a worker makes during a single task.

A. It makes you a less responsible walker.

B. It’ll do harm to your sleep at night.

C. It can prevent you from really enjoying the activities you treasure.

D. We can’t believe we still have to say this, but it affects your driving.

E. But it isn’t just college students who face texting distractions (分神).

F. What do we lose when we get lost in the texting life?

G. Want to get rid of the effect of all this bending and texting?

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆內(nèi)蒙古赤峰二中高三上學期12月月考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：書面表達

書面表達

假如你是光明中學的李華，今年夏天你去農(nóng)村朋友家玩，看到大量良田被廢棄，你覺得很可惜。請你根據(jù)下列要點，給某英文報社寫一封信，以此呼吁政府采取措施，來解決這一問題。

要點：

1．看到的現(xiàn)象；

2．分析可能的原因: 大量年輕人棄鄉(xiāng)進城；干旱的天氣；工業(yè)污染等。

3．呼吁政府采取措施。

注意：1．詞數(shù)100左右；

2．可以適當增加細節(jié)，以使行文連貫；

3．開頭語和結(jié)語已為你寫好。

Dear Sir or Madam,

I'm I.i Hua,a student from Guangming Middle School.

Hoping to receive your early reply.

Yours.

Li Hua

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆江西上高縣第二中學高三上學期第二次月考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Before your child's final exam: and the graduation announcements, you face a significant task together: choosing the right college or university. There is no "one size fits all" approach to selecting a college—it's a very personal process for most teenagers. Consider a wide range of factors to help your child make the best possible choice.

Discuss with your child her post-high school choices, such as college, finding work or starting a business, or joining the army. If you determine together that college is the best choice for your child, talk about the importance of college, and her longer-term goals by going to college.

Talk to your child about what she thinks is important in a college experience and share your opinions as well. Identify the issues that will directly impact her college choice, such as her grades, test scores and family finances. Then make a list of the key criteria for her dream school, including factors such as the school's location, its size, the types of prograM:, the after school activities available and the type of financial aid available.

Prioritize the item: on your child's list, at least to the extent of sorting it into "must-haves," "highly desirable" and "nice-to-have" categories. Put these factors into an online search engine specifically designed to identify colleges and universities that best meet your criteria, such as that offered by CollegeBoard.org. Start with the most important criteria, then experiment with additional factors to narrow the search results to a number you can work with, such as 10 or 20 different schools.

Use the search results as a guide to further focus your college search. Research each school by reviewing its website, requesting information directly from the school and attending local presentations about the school.

1.The underlined word "prioritize" in Paragraph 4 probably means "______".

A. list in order of importance B. write down

C. add to D. do research into

2.What can we learn from the passage?

A. It's better to decide the college for your child.

B. It's necessary to take your child's opinion into consideration.

C. There is a "one size fits all" way to select a college.

D. An online search engine is of great help to you.

3.What's the author's purpose of writing the passage?

A. To argue B. To persuade

C. To introduce D. To amuse

4.Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆河北定州中學高三上學期第三次月考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

parents usually go to malls to find new school supplies for their children. One of the most important things to get during this time is the backpack. Most students choose to bring a backpack because it allows them to have both hands free. This makes the bag less likely to hinder (妨礙)other activities that the person carrying it may be doing at the same time. Here are the ways parents can choose the perfect backpack for school.

How many books will children be carrying to school? How many notebooks should be inside the bag? Parents should know these details before buying a bag for their children. Each situation requires a different bag so it pays to ask children about the expected load.

Do children need special storage for the bag? If they will be carrying a laptop computer inside the new backpack，make sure that parents get a model that’s designed specifically for laptop use. This will protect the computer from bumps and falls that might damage the device if it had less protection.

Are children going to use the bag for a long time? If they want to use a bag for a long time，parents will be better off investing in a good brand that is known for quality. Parents may have to pay extra cash to get the top of the line and the best backpack in the market.

1.Why do most students like bringing a backpack?

A. Because it looks beautiful.

B. Because it’s a duty for them to bring it.

C. Because they can put all the books into it.

D. Because it helps them do other activities freely.

2.What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?

A. Parents should find out how many books their children have.

B. Parents must ask teachers for help before buying a backpack.

C. Parents should know the weight of things that will go inside the backpack.

D. Parents must ask their children’s requirements when buying a backpack.

3.The underlined word “bumps” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to“ ”.

A.knocks B. jumps C. stands D. beats

4.Which of the following can we know from the text?

A. Picking a backpack is very easy to do.

B. It’s better for children to have a backpack that has more pockets.

C. The backpacks that have a good brand are more popular with children.

D. Parents always feel worried when buying a backpack for their children.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學年山西大同一中高二12月單元測英語試卷（解析版） 題型：單項填空

Much labor would have been saved if the electronic computers_____________ before.

A. had invented B. were invented

C. should have been invented D. had been invented

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆廣東中山市七校聯(lián)合體高三上學期12月聯(lián)考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Witchcraft（巫術(shù)）was not made a capital offence in Britain until 1563 though it was disapproved by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484. From 1484 until around 1750, some 200,000 witches（女巫）were burnt or hanged in Western Europe.

Most supposed witches were usually old women, and always poor. Any who were unfortunate enough to be an old woman with broken teeth, sunken cheeks and sockets and a hairy lip were assumed to possess the “Evil Eye”. It was more the case if they also had a cat. Many unfortunate women were taken away on this sort of evidence and hanged.

Witch fever held East Anglia for 14 terrible months between 1645—1646. A man called Matthew Hopkins, an unsuccessful lawyer, contributed a lot! He became known as the “Witchfinder General”. He had 68 people put to death in Bury St. Edmunds alone, and 19 hanged at Chelmsfor in a single day. After Chelmsford he set off for other countries. Much of Matthew Hopkins theories of telling a witch were based on Devil’s Marks. He took a small mark to be a Devil’s Mark and he used his “needle” to see if these marks were insensitive to pain. His “needle” was basically a trick so the unfortunate women never felt any pain.

There were other tests for witches. Mary Sutton of Bedford was put to the swimming test. With her thumbs tied to opposite big toes she was thrown into the river. If she floated she was guilty; if she sank, innocent. Poor Mary floated!

Though many of the acts againsts witchcraft were put to an end in 1736, witch hunting still went on. In 1863, a suspected male witch was drowned in a pond in Headingham, Essex and 1945 the body of an elderly farm laborer was found near the village of Meon Hill in Warwickshire. His throat had been cut and his body was pinned to the earth. The murder remains unsolved; however, the man was said, locally, to be a male witch. It seems that belief in witchcraft has not entirely died out.

1.A female witch was often found to be ________

A. a young lady B. a lucky woman

C. an ugly woman D. a blind girl

2.Matthew Hopkins can be best described as __________

A. kind and smart B. tricky and merciless

C. successful and nice D. famous and fortunate

3.Why did people throw Mary into the river?

A. To take her life.

B. To tell if she was a witch

C. To test her swimming skills.

D. To prove that she was guilty

4.What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A. Witches are still badly treated all over the world.

B. Witches were terribly treated in the European history.

C. Some people still have been using magic in daily lives.

D. There have always been people believing in witchcraft

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆江西豐城中學高三上學期第四次月考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：書面表達

書面表達

假如你是李華，前幾天你收到網(wǎng)友Jim的來信，詢問你的高三生活，你打算在回信中介紹以下三個方面的內(nèi)容：1、生活安排； 2、學習計劃； 3、理想的大學及專業(yè)。

注意：1、詞數(shù)100字左右；2、可適當增加細節(jié)，以使行文連貫； 3、開頭已為你寫好，不計入總詞數(shù)。

Dear Jim,

I’m very glad to hear from you.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習冊答案