Question

    How many of you have unfriended(拉黑) someone on Facebook because they said something bad about politics, childcare or food? And how many of you ever hide from someone just because you don’t want to talk to them?

In order to have a polite conversation, we used to follow the advice — make our conversation go around the weather and your health. But these days, with climate change and vaccine (疫苗) problems, those subjects — are not safe, either. Every conversation may lead to a fight.

Pew Research did a study of 10,000 American adults, and they found at this moment, we are less likely(可能) to listen to each other. Depending on what we already believe, we make decisions about where to live, who to marry and even who our friends are going to be. A conversation needs a balance(平衡) between talking and listening, and somewhere along the way, we lost that balance.

Now, part of that is because of technology, such as the smartphones. They are either in your hands or close enough for you to get quickly. According to the Pew Research, about one third American teenagers send more than a hundred texts(信息) a day. And many of them, almost most of them, are more likely to text their friends than they are to talk to them face to face.

There’s a great piece in The Atlantic. It was written by a high school teacher named Paul Barnwell. He gave a communication project to teach students how to speak on a special topic. But he failed to make it and said: “I realize kids spend hours each day connecting with ideas and each other through screens, but they hardly discover their communication skills. It might sound like a funny question, but we have to ask ourselves. Are there any 21st-century skills more important than being able to make a real conversation?

1.It used to be safe to talk about________in a polite conversation.

A.health B.childcare C.food

2.What can we learn from the study of Pew Research?

A.People make their own decisions by listening to others.

B.We probably like talking with friends face to face better.

C.There isn’t a balance between talking and listening now.

3.About 30% American teenagers send ________ texts a day.

A.more than 1000 B.about 500 C.Over 100

4.The last paragraph mainly talks about ________.

A.some communication skills

B.a project by Paul Barnwell

C.a magazine called The Atlantic

5.What is the best title of the passage?

A.Why not have a conversation now?

B.How can we speak politely?

C.What can we do with smart phones?

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.C

4.B

5.B

【解析】

文章大意：本文节选自Celeste Headlee的一篇演讲《如何成为一个更好的交谈者？》。节选部分主要讲人际交往中的谈论和倾听失去了平衡，介绍了出现这一现象的原因及交流中存在的其他问题，并提醒人们应该如何礼貌地交谈。

1.细节理解题。根据第2段中“In order to have a polite conversation, we used to follow the advice — make our conversation go around the weather and your health.”可知礼貌的交谈中谈论天气和健康是可以的。故选A。

2.细节理解题。根据第3段中“Pew Research did a study of 10,000 American adults, … A conversation needs a balance between talking and listening, and somewhere along the way, we lost that balance.”可知研究发现我们已经失去了对话中的听说平衡。故选C。

3.细节理解题。根据第4段中“According to the Pew Research, about one third American teenagers send more than a hundred texts(信息) a day.”可知大约三分之一（即百分之三十）的美国青少年每天发送多于一百条信息。故选C。

4.段落大意题。根据最后一段中“There’s a great piece in The Atlantic. It was written by a high school teacher named Paul Barnwell. He gave a communication project to teach students how to speak on a special topic.”可知这一段主要讲Paul Barnwell进行的一个交流项目。故选B。

5.标题归纳题。根据文章内容可知本文主要讲述了一些交流中存在的问题，并提出如何礼貌地进行交谈，用“How can we speak politely?”做标题最合适。故选B。