“How are you?” is a nice question. It’s a friendly way that people in the USA greet each other. But “How are you” is also a very unusual question. It’s a question that often doesn’t need an answer. The person who asks “How are you?” hopes to hear the answer “ Fine”, even if the person’s friend isn’t fine. The reason is that “How are you?” isn’t really a question and “Fine” isn’t really an answer. They are simply other ways of saying “Hello” or “Hi”.
Sometimes, people also don’t say exactly what they mean. For example, when someone asks “Do you agree?” The other person might think, “No, I disagree. I think you’re wrong…” But it isn’t very polite to disagree so strongly, so the other person might say “I’m not sure.” It’s a nicer way to say that you don’t agree with someone.
People also don’t say exactly what they are thinking when they finish talking with other people. For example, many talks over the phone finish when one person says “I have to go now.” Often, the person who wants to hang up gives an excuse “Someone’s at the door.” “Something is burning on the stove.” The excuses might be real, or not. Perhaps the person who wants to hang up simply doesn’t want to talk any more, but it isn’t polite to say that. The excuse is more polite, and it doesn’t hurt the other person.
Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an idea, or finishing a talk, people don’t say exactly what they are thinking. It’s an important way that people try to be nice to each other, and it’s part of the rule of the game of language.
【小题1】When a person in America asks “How are you?” he or she wants to hear “________”.| A．How are you | B．Hello | C．Fine | D．I’m not sure |
| A．hurting someone’s feelings | B．feeling ill |
| C．giving an excuse | D．not good at cooking |
| A．Always say what you mean | B．Never tell the truth |
| C．Never say exactly what you’re thinking | D．Always be polite to the listeners |
In the world, more and more people are studying Chinese as a second language. Chinese is too hard to learn, right? Really, written Chinese is difficult to learn! However, the spoken language is quite different. Many famous people in the world ask their children to learn how to speak Chinese at first. When the US President Donald Trump visited China in November last year, his granddaughter Arabella sang Chinese songs and recited Chinese poems in a sweet voice in the video. President Xi Jingping praised her in public. Actually, Arabella has been learning the Chinese language since she was only eighteen months old.
Why do many famous people begin to pay more attention to learning Chinese? The first reason is that Chinese is the language spoken by the largest number of people in the world. Learn to speak Chinese and you can speak with millions of people around the world. Second, with thousands of years of history, Chinese culture is very fascinating. Learning Chinese well will help you understand Chinese culture better. Of course, there are still other reasons, such as travel, business and so on.
All in all, it is more convenient for you to develop all kinds of relationships with China if you can learn Chinese well.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?| A．Written Chinese is easier to learn than spoken Chinese. |
| B．Arabella began to learn Chinese when she was two years old. |
| C．Chinese is spoken by the largest number of people in the world. |
| A．背诵 | B．默写 | C．编写 |
| A．two | B．four | C．over four |
| A．President Xi Jingping praised Arabella in public |
| B．learning Chinese well will help you understand Chinese culture better |
| C．it is easier for people who can speak Chinese to travel or do business in China |
| A．Chinese learning. | B．Chinese culture. | C．Famous people. |
But the Englishman thinks of “a nobody” as “not a human being”. “Oh, my God! Not a human being? It must be a ghost!” So he runs away as quickly as possible.
Generally speaking(一般来说), the meaning of “nobody” is “no one”. But in fact, the man wants to say, “59________________.”
And “somebody” usually means “there is a person”. However, in spoken English, it means “an important person” or “a famous person”. If you want to encourage(鼓励) your friend, you can say, “Be somebody!”
At the same time, “something” and “nothing” also have special meanings. So, if you want to praise(表扬）something, you can say, “That is really something.” It means, “It’s great!” And when a person praises you or says “thanks” to you, you should say, “It’s nothing.”
【小题1】In fact, the man wants to say “_________________.”
| A．I’m a ghost | B．I’m somebody |
| C．I’m a famous person | D．I’m an ordinary(普通的) person |
| A．You’re nothing | B．You’re somebody | C．You’re nobody | D．It’s nothing |
| A．Some words usually have special meanings. |
| B．Both “somebody” and “nobody” have special meanings. |
| C．The English man doesn’t meet a ghost in the street at night. |
| D．When others praise you, you can say, “That’s really something.” |
I left my hometown in London last year and now I have enjoyed working in this small city in China. Learning a foreign language opens your eyes to the culture and history of a country. So in order to know more about China, I started to learn Chinese.
But at times, I found myself in funny situations. When I greeted strangers in China, they began to talk a lot and very fast. They asked me questions about everything. But all I could do was to look at them with a blank face. I had no idea what they were talking about. Were they just being kind, funny or impolite? Many people want to make friends with me. But I am a bit upset when I find out the reason why they need a foreign friend. They say they want to practice their English. I don’t need friends like this. I like friends to share my feelings and ideas with.
However, the more Chinese I learn, the more similarities I find it has with English. In English, “thick-skinned” is to describe a person who doesn’t care about criticism (批评). I was surprised to find that “houlianpi” in Chinese means the same. And both languages share some common idioms (习语). For example, “look on with folded arms” means “xiushoupangguan”, and “burn the boats” is similar to “pofuchenzhou”.
Of course, there are many differences between Chinese and English. It’s a challenge for me to learn Chinese well.
I’m still on my journey to Chinese learning. I believe that sometimes you have the most fun on a journey.
【小题1】The writer comes from ________.| A．the UK | B．the USA | C．Australia | D．Canada |
| A．make friends | B．learn a foreign language | C．know about China | D．find a job |
| A．they are interested in Western culture |
| B．they want a partner to practice English with |
| C．they are willing to share feelings and ideas with him |
| D．they want to help the foreigner with his Chinese |
| A．相似点 | B．不同点 | C．规律性 | D．重要性 |
| A．be very strong and seldom fall ill |
| B．like to criticize others for their mistakes |
| C．talk a lot and speak fast |
| D．feel OK when he’s criticized |
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