Question

    Have you ever caught yourself saying, "I hate small talk!" the minute you walk into a party? If so, you might be an introvert (内向的人). Introverts hate to chat about "small" subjects with people. They are fine when you talk one on one but seem to get lost in the crowd when there's a group around.

If you're talking to an introvert, you might find that your first few conversations go one of two ways. Either they'll seem to get bored and not say much or they'll seem to skate over small talk in favor of more in-depth topics. What you need to know is that the introvert is not being rude. It’s just that they don't like small talk. Here's why.

Small talk serves as a gateway toward deeper conversation. Some introverts don’t realize that small talk will actually help them get to the bigger topics. You don't need to stay on small talk forever. However, sometimes introverts feel that even the short amount of time it takes to get into the real conversation is a waste of time. Small talk is very fast. Someone says something and this should be followed up with a quick response. But introverts like to chew on their words before saying them aloud. Before they answer, they’ll mull over different thoughts.

Small talk by its very nature invites more people to join in. The more people who join the conversation, the more the introvert will tend to step back. As a result, they’ll be quiet. Small talk is about throwing out subjects in the hope that one or more of them can be turned into a common point of interest.

The listening involved with small talk is not in-depth. The purpose is about listening "lightly" so you can figure out the right topics to spend some time on. Introverts tend to be great listeners, but they use active listening rather than light listening. This makes them wonderful friends, but can also make it difficult for new people to understand why they’re so quiet.

1.How do introverts respond to a chat?

A. They try to avoid it.

B. They get excited about it.

C. They give it their full attention.

D. They focus on unimportant topics.

2.What do we know about small talk?

A. It goes slowly.

B. It costs people a lot of time.

C. It contributes to deeper topics.

D. It makes no sense.

3.What does the underlined phrase "mull over" in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A. Give up. B. Think over.

C. Write down. D. Forget about.

4.How can we become a good talker in small conversations?

A. Figure out the deep meaning of questions.

B. Think twice before answering questions.

C. Try to find shared topics.

D. Be a quiet listener.

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.B

4.C

【解析】

本文为记叙文。主要叙述了内向的人不喜欢和人闲聊，尤其是面对一群人会不知所措。事实上闲聊是通向深入交谈的大门。一些内向的人没有意识到闲聊实际上会帮助他们进入更大的话题，吸引更多的人，并找到共同的话题。

1.推理判断题。第一段“Introverts hate to chat about "small" subjects with people.”及第二段中的“If you're talking to an introvert,… Either they'll seem to get bored and not say much or they'll seem to skate over small talk in favor of more in-depth topics. It’s just that they don't like small talk.”可知，内向的人不喜欢聊天。因此对于聊天常常以回避的方式来回应对方，故选A。

2.推理判断题。第三段“Small talk serves as a gateway toward deeper conversation. Some introverts don’t realize that small talk will actually help them get to the bigger topics.” 可知“闲聊是通向更深入交谈的通道。有些内向的人没有意识到闲聊实际上会帮助他们进入到更大的话题”，由此可知闲聊有助于更大的话题，故选C。

3.猜测词义题。根据第三段划线词的前一句“But introverts like to chew on their words before saying them aloud.”可知，但是内向的人喜欢在大声说出来之前细细咀嚼他们的话,“细细咀嚼”即为仔细考虑，可知，句子“Before they answer ,they’ll mull over different thoughts”可推断出“在他们回答之前，他们会仔细考虑不同的想法。”，从而得出划线部分 “mull over”意为“仔细考虑”。分析选项可知B符合题意，故选B。

4.推理判断题。根据第四段中的“Small talk by its very nature invites more people to join in….Small talk is about throwing out subjects in the hope that one or more of them can be turned into a common point of interest.”可知，闲聊本身就能吸引更多的人加入进来。闲聊就是抛出话题，希望其中一个或多个话题能成为共同的兴趣点。由此可推断出在对话中要成为一个健谈的人，就要试图寻找共同的话题。分析选项可知C项符合题意，故选C。