You’re standing with your classmates. Everyone is talking—except you. Perhaps you’re afraid they will laugh at what you say. Or maybe you just aren’t brave enough to speak.
I’ve been there, and so have many other people all over the world. Shyness is like a snake that crawls(爬进) into our mouths and stops us speaking. But we shouldn’t let it stay there.
I am 29 years old. Even today, that snake still sometimes visits me. But when I was in high school, I was so shy that I wouldn’t talk to anyone except my parents and best friends. If a stranger asked me the way to a local shop, it was as if I’d forgotten how to talk.
One summer, I got a job in a restaurant and that helped a lot. It meant I had to talk to customers. I had to tell them how much their meal cost. I had to ask them if they wanted to drink Coke or Sprite. I had to tell the people in the kitchen if someone wanted pickle（泡菜）on their sandwich.
This job taught me how to speak with people.
You may not be old enough to find a part-time job. But you can look for other chances to speak with people. You can offer to help an old woman carry her heavy bag. Or you can go to get a newspaper for your family.
If you do these things for a while, the “shyness” snake will soon begin to leave you alone. It’ll look for another mouth to crawl into.
小题1:The example in the first paragraph is used to .
A．show that everyone has the right to speak in class
B．tell readers that it is not right to laugh at others
C．introduce the fact that many people have a shyness problem
D．argue that it is alright to keep silent in public小题2:The underlined sentence in the second paragraph probably means .
A．he’s been in many situations that make other people feel shy
B．he is confident that he can find a way to get over shyness
C．he is sad because he knows he will always be shy
D．like many other people he once was troubled by shyness小题3:The author’s duties in the restaurant included .
A．cooking the meals for customers
B．taking the customers’ orders
C．discussing the menu with the manager
D．helping people in the kitchen小题4:Who was the article written for?
A．Shy early teenagers.
B．College students.
C．People who work at a restaurant.
D．People who need a part-time job.
