Americans, generally speaking, make an effort to be friendly with their colleagues, neighbours and other people they often run into. This often takes the form of a simple greeting like “How’s it going?” or “What’s up ?” This is simply a way of saying I see you and I recognize you.
Americans also show this friendliness in “small talk”. Small talk is a casual conversation that Americans engage in when they meet on the street, in the shop or in the office before a meeting. Usually the topics of such small talk will be something that everyone is familiar with, the weather, sports, traffic, hobbies or what’s on television. The topic of the conversation is not as important as the effort make to spend a few minutes with the other person. Small talk shows that you are a considerate person who is interested in others and who is willing to take the time to get to know people.
Small talk is used in the business world to create a friendly atmosphere and to put everyone at ease before the serious matters of business are discussed. Often businessmen will spend a few minutes talking about the weather or sports before a meeting. This form of small talk only lasts a few minutes before the American businessman wants to “get down to business.”
Asians are very skilled at making casual conversation. However, they often find it difficult to make small talk with Americans because they don’t know what to say, how to say it and who to say it to. Americans may see Asians who are reluctant to make small talk as unfriendly and cold.
小题1: American people ask others how it is going because .
A．they are curious about others’ affairs
B．they are eager to help others
C．they want to start a long conversation
D．they only want to show their kindness小题2:Businessmen talk about weather before a meeting .
A．so that everyone present will feel relaxed
B．in order that everyone will be warned against the possible bad weather
C．because weather is very important to American people
D．in order to make people fresh小题3:The word “reluctant” means .
A．willing
B．eager
C．unwilling
D．skilled小题4:Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
A．You should keep the conversation short.
B．Asians are not friendly and don’t like to talk with others
C．“To get down to business” means to start the work.
D．The topics of the small talk are not very important.
