Question

Silence is unnatural to man．He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness．In between he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and he fears silence more than anything else．Even his conversation is an attempt to prevent a fearful silence．If he is introduced to another person, and a number of pauses occur in the conversation, he regards himself as a failure, a worthless person, and is full of envy of the emptiest headed chatterbox（喋喋不休的人）.He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than the buzzing of a fly, but he is anxious to join in the buzz and to prove that he is a man and not a waxwork figure（蜡塑人像）.

The aim of conversation is not, for the most part, to communicate ideas; it is to keep up the buzzing sound. There are, it must be admitted, different qualities of buzz; there is even a buzz that is as annoying as the continuous noise made by a mosquito （蚊子）.But at a dinner party one would rather be a mosquito than a quiet person. Most buzzing, fortunately, is pleasant to the ear, and some of it is pleasant even to the mind. He would be a foolish man if he waited until he had a wise thought to take part in the buzzing -with his neighbors.

Those who hate to pick up the weather as a conversational opening seem to me not to know the reason why human beings wish to talk. Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new. Some of them are content if they are merely allowed to go on making a noise into other people's ears, though they have nothing to tell them except that they have seen two or three new plays or that they had food in a Swiss hotel. At the end of an evening during which they have said nothing meaningful for a long time, they just prove themselves to be successful conservationists.

1.According to the passage, people usually talk to their neighbors_____.

A．in the hope of learning something new

B．in the hope of getting on well

C．about whatever they have prepared

D．about whatever they want to

2.According to the author, people make conversation to______.

A．achieve success in life

B．exchange ideas

C．overcome their fear of silence

D．prove their value

3.What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

A．To persuade people to stop making noises．

B．To explain why people keep talking．

C．To discuss why people like talking about weather．

D．To encourage people to join in conversations．

4.By "the buzzing of a fly"(Para.1), the author means"_____".

A．the voice of a chatterbox

B．meaningless talk sound

C．a low whispering

D．the noise of an insect

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文论述了人们司空见惯的一种交流方式――谈话，人们不停的交谈，自有其一定特殊意义。

由于人们害怕沉默，谈话也是为了克服silence而导致的恐惧。

1.细节理解题。根据依据第二段，表明与邻居交流可以谈任何想谈的内容，不必等到你有才wise thought开口。本题易误选B，而B说明人们与邻居交往有一定的目的性，故选D。

2.细节理解题。根据文章开始就表明了人类最害怕的是silence，即使谈话也是为了克服silence而导致的恐惧，故选C。

3.写作意图题。根据本题需要对文章三段加以综合概括，尤其是第二段首句，表明作者写本文的真实意图是解释人们为何不停的talking.故选B。

4.词义推测题。根据依据日常知识，大多数talking没有什么特别意义。故选B。

考点：人生百味类短文阅读。