Question

Mary had feared the day she would draw a blank during a presentation. Then one day during a 45-minute speech, it happened. 1.. To help herself get back on track, Mary asked the audience to look at the handout and tell her what topic was up next. At the end of her presentation, audience members gave her top marks for organization.

“What I learned is that the audience doesn’t care if you mess up, and what they care about is what you are going to do about it,” Mary said. “My nervousness went away when I concentrated not on myself, but instead just thought, ‘How is my speech going to help the audience?’ 2.. Every single step of the way，ask yourself, ‘What’s in it for them?’”

●3.

Carter is the founder of Canada-based presentation skills training company. When possible, he gets to the location of his presentation the day before to make sure all the electronic aids work. He wants to ensure the screen, lighting and inputs all work properly. “In addition, build an extra plan before you present.” he said.

● Involve the audience

Whether you are giving a one-on-one talk or a speech in front of 400 people, think “story-telling”. 4.. The way to a person's head is through his heart. Sometimes all it takes is a few seconds to connect an audience member with a story.

Moreover, one thing that shocks people back into attention is to leave an almost uncomfortably long pause. 5..

A. Keep order

B. Be prepared

C. That brings them back to the speaker

D. She forgot what she was going to say

E. Once you do that, it gets rid of the fear

F. Story-telling makes messages easy to remember

G. Stories combine data and information with emotion

Answer

1.D

2.E

3.B

4.G

5.C

【解析】这篇文章主要讲了如何进行一次成功的演讲，由Mary在一次演讲中忘词并机智化解尴尬引出下文，接着告诉我们在演讲中要把注意力集中在观众身上，演讲之前做好准备，演讲中运用故事使观众参与进来，以及通过长时间停顿来使观众集中注意力。这道七选五的五个空格都是根据前后文的意思即可答出，通过代入，即可检查答案是否合理。

1.空格位于“Mary had feared the day she would draw a blank during a presentation. Then one day during a 45-minute speech, it happened”（Mary害怕在演讲时忘词，然后在一次45分钟的演讲中她确实忘词了）后，D选项中She forgot what she was going to say正好与其呼应，故选D.

2.空格位于My nervousness went away when I concentrated not on myself, but instead just thought, ‘How is my speech going to help the audience?’后，而E选项Once you do that, you get rid of that fear正好与其承接，讲的都是如何克服恐惧紧张，故选E.

3.空格位于整个段落之首，说明需要总结下面段落的大意，根据段落最后一句In addition, build an extra plan before you present,可知，这段要告诉我们在演讲之前要做好准备，故选B.

4.空格位于story-telling后，且空格后一句Sometimes all it takes is a few seconds to connect an audience member with a story正好与G选项Stories combine data and information with emotion相承接，讲的都是讲故事对于听众的好处，故事可以将数据信息与人的情感联系起来，故选G.

5.空格前一句话说可以使听众感到惊讶，并将他们的注意力拉回来的方法是留一个时间很长以至于会让人感到不舒服的停顿，而C选项That brings them back to the speaker正好与其呼应，C选项中的that指代的是to leave an almost uncomfortably long pause,故选C.

【名师点睛】七选五旨在考查学生对全文整体理解和对信息辨析的能力，做此题时需要先了解文章的整体结构，再综合上下文进行判断。其中，重点是：

1.在浏览选项、理解全篇逻辑关系后找出关键词，例如第4小题，可以明显找出关键词stories. 以及第5小题，明显找出的关键词是back.

2.运用上下文同义词和近义词关系，例如第2小题空格前的nervousness对应于选项中的fear，然后就可以很容易地找出正确答案.