Weather talk wins for people in US My Chinese friend is going to the US and he is nervous about what to talk about. "Talk about the weather," is my advice.

"How are you?" is often followed by comments(评论) about the weather. "Nice day today."

"Cold/hot enough for you?" "Will it ever stop raining?" "Some winter we're having." "Can't remember a winter/summer so cold/hot." "Whew, it's hot out there."

These statements are often followed by a long conversation entirely about weather conditions. Past, present and the future.

Our fascination with weather might seem silly, but the real purpose behind those endless discussions is small talk. Weather's a safe topic of conversation. As a group, we Americans seem to enjoy chatting with those around us. Whenever we stand in line at the grocery store, we like to take part in this kind of conversation with other people standing in line with us. If I were seated next to another American on any form of public transport, I'd expect both of us to make a harmless comment about the weather as a way of greeting each other. At parties, the weather is a common topic, especially with those you are meeting for the first time.

In contrast (相反),we are taught to avoid certain topics like religion (宗教)and politics. Weather is everywhere, it affects everybody and it's a fairly objective, neutral (中性的)topic； You don't have to have an opinion about it, just make a state of a fact. What is truly interesting is the fact that we can go on and on about it.

My Chinese friend has a hard time understanding why we put so much effort into this topic-and why I warn him about bringing up much more "interesting" subjects like salaries(薪资) or how much something costs.

Sometimes it is tricky (棘手的) to make one's on winding cultural roads, especially those that are never taught in books.

【小题1】What does the underlined word "fascination" in Paragraph 4mean?

A．Advice	B．Prediction
C．Strong interest.	D．Wild imagination.

【小题2】In the author's opinion, weather is a common conversation topic in America because ______.

A．Americans don't like to talk about other topics except weather

B．Weather affects everyday choices like clothes and changes a lot

C．Weather is quite an objective topic and doesn't cause bad feelings

D．Americans use it as a greeting when they can’t bring up much more interesting subjects

【小题3】What can we learn from the passage?

A．Weather is a good topic of conversation all over the world.

B．Cultures that are not taught in books should be written about more.

C．Topics for conversation should be well considered in the United States

D．The more topics you are interested in, the better you can be at small talk.