C

　　“Small talk”includes topics，such as sports，weather，jobs，or past experiences.Most people do not talk about religion，politics，or personal feelings with strangers.People do not usually talk about the personal lives of their conversation partners.This emotional distance does not mean people dislike you，but personal lives are discussed only with close friends and family.

　　There are few“ritualistic”exchanges in English，but you should know that“How are you?”and“How's it going?”are greetings，not questions about your life.“See you later.”or“See you soon.”are ways of saying good­bye，not appointments.

　　People in the US are curious.They will ask you a lot of questions.Some of their questions may appear ridiculous，uninformed(無知的)and elementary，but try to be patient in answering them.You may be the first person from your country whom they have met，and they will have very little understanding of your life.Most people are sincerely interested in learning about you.

　　Many people believe in the“scientific method”of understanding the world，so they look for facts and evidence when you tell them something new.This may seem odd to students whose cultures emphasize feelings or emotions，but people are not rude if they say，“Show me”or“Prove it”.

　　Loud conversations usually mean people are angry.Most conversations are moderate in volume with few gestures.Do not speak too loudly or too quietly，and keep your hands under control.When you have communication difficulties，you may think it is because of spoken or written language.However，many misunderstandings happen because of non­verbal communication，or body language.

　　【語篇解讀】 本文是說明文。文章介紹跟美國人交談時應(yīng)該注意的問題，即美國人的交談習(xí)俗。

　　43.What would be the best title for the passage?

　　A.Making Conversations in the US

　　B.What Is“Small talk”?

　　C.Make Yourself at Home in the US

　　D.Understanding American Cultures

　　解析　主旨大意題。通讀全文可知，本文介紹跟美國人交談時應(yīng)該注意的問題，也就是美國人的交談習(xí)俗。B項僅是文章的細節(jié);C項偏離了文章的中心;D項概念過大。

　　答案　A

　　44.Which of the following would be an open topic of American conversations?

　　A.What one feels about his new colleague.

　　B.The war in Iraq.

　　C.Story of a sports star.

　　D.One's income.

　　解析　細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)常識可排除D項，美國人的談話一般不涉及個人隱私的問題，如年齡、婚姻、收入等。從第一段可知，人們閑談的話題其中包括體育方面的內(nèi)容，而政治、宗教以及個人感情則不是公開談?wù)摰脑掝}。

　　答案　C

　　45.What should you do if Americans say，“Show me”or“Prove it”?

　　A.Explain to them that your cultures emphasize feelings or emotions.

　　B.Try to give them as many facts as possible.

　　C.Tell them you don't understand the“scientific method”.

　　D.Ignore their questions and change to another topic.

　　解析　推理判斷題。從文章倒數(shù)第二段可知，美國人注重事實和證據(jù)，因此，你應(yīng)該給他們提供一些例子以便他們更好地理解你的觀點。

　　答案　B

　　46.From the last paragraph we can learn that________.

　　A.most communication difficulties are caused by spoken or written language

　　B.Americans are usually modest during a conversation

　　C.Americans use a lot of gestures during an conversation

　　D.you shouldn't use many gestures when talking to an American

　　解析　推理判斷題。從文章最后一段可知，美國人在談話中很少使用手勢，而且作者還建議你也要控制住自己的手，因此推斷，在跟美國人交談時不要過多地使用手勢。

　　答案　D