阅读理解。
Any discussion of English conversation, like any English conversation, must begin with The Weather.
And in this spirit of observing traditional rule, I shall quote Dr Johnson's famous comment that "When two
English meet, their first talk is of the weather", and point out that this observation is as accurate now as it
was over two hundred years ago.
This, however, is the point at which most people either stop, or try, and fail, to come up with a convincing
explanation for the English "addiction" to the weather. They fail because their premise (前提) is mistaken: they
assume that our conversations about the weather are conversations about the weather. In other words, they
assume that we talk about the weather because we have a keen interest in the subject. Most of them then try to
figure out what it is about the English weather that is so fascinating.
Bill Bryson, for example, concludes that the English weather is not at all fascinating, and that our "addiction"
to it is therefore very difficult to explain "To an outsider, the most striking thing about the English weather is
that there is not very much of it. All those phenomena that elsewhere give nature an edge of excitement,
unpredictability and danger-tornados, monsoons, hailstorms-are almost wholly unknown in the British Isles."
Jeremy Paxman takes offence at Bryson's comments and argues that the English weather is truly fascinating:
Bryson misses the point, The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty.., one of the
few things you can say about England with absolute certainty is that it has a lot of weather. It may not include
tropical cyclones but life at the edge of an ocean and the edge of a continent means you can never be entirely
sure what you're going to get.
My research has convinced me that both Bryson and Paxrnan are missing the point, which is that our
conversations about the weather are not really about the weather at all: English weather-speak is a form of code,
developed to help us overcome our natural reserve (含蓄) and actually talk to each other. Everyone knows, for
example, that "Nice day, isn't it?", "Oh, isn't it cold?"; and other variations on the theme are not requests for
weather data: they are greetings or conversation-starters. In other words, English weather-speak is a form of
"cleaning talk"- the human equivalent of what is known as"social cleaning" among our primate (灵长类的)
cousins, where they spend hours cleaning each other's fur, even when they are perfectly clean, as a means of
social connection.
1. According to the author, most people's explanations for the English love for weather talk are _____.
A. scientific
B. incorrect
C. fascinating
D. accurate
2. As is stated in the passage, most people try to find out _____.
A. why the English weather is so unique
B. whether the English enjoy their weather
C. why the English are so interested in the topic of weather
D. whether the English really talk about weather when they do so
3. In Bill Bryson's opinion, the English "addiction" to their weather is _____.
A. understandable
B. convincing
C. respectable
D. unreasonable
4. Disapproving of Bill Bryson's opinion, Jeremy Paxman argues that _____.
A. the English talk about their weather because it is unpredictable
B. the English don't talk about weather as often as the outsiders think
C. the English weather can be as exciting as anywhere else's
D. the English weather talk is merely a form of small talk
5. According to the author, English weather-speak is similar to primates' social cleaning in that they are
both _____.
A. ways of greeting
B. means of social connection
C. fascinating topics between people
D. phenomena difficult to understand to outsiders
