Question

You are a new manager at the American branch of your German firm in Chicago. With a few minutes to spare between meetings, you go to get a quick cup of coffee.

“Hey, David, how are you?” one of the senior partners at the firm asks you.

“Good, thank you, Dr. Greer,” you reply. You’ve really been wanting to make a connection with the senior leadership at the firm, and this seems like a great opportunity. But as you start to think of something to say, your American colleague breaks in to steal your spotlight.

“So Arnold”, your colleague says to your boss, in such a casual manner that it makes your German soul cringe(畏缩), “So what’s your Super bowl prediction? I mean, you’re a Niners fan, right?”

The conversation moves on, and you walk silently back to your desk with your coffee. You know how important small talk is in the U.S., and you feel jealous of people who can do it well.

There’s nothing small about the role that small talk plays in American professional culture. People from other countries are often surprised at how important small talk is in the U.S. and how naturally and comfortably people seem to do it ------ with peers, men, women, and even with superiors. You can be the most technically skilled worker in the world, but your ability to progress in your job in the United States is highly dependent on your ability to build and maintain positive relationships with people at work. And guess what skill is critical for building and maintaining these relationships? Small talk.

What can you do if you are from another culture and want to learn to use small talk in the U.S. to build relationships and establish trust? Work hard to hone(磨练) your own version of American-style small talk. Watch how others do it. You don’t have to imitate what they do; in fact, that would likely backfire because people would see you as inauthentic(假的,不可信的). But if you can develop your own personal version, that can go a long way toward making you feel comfortable and competent．

1.The author introduces the topic of the passage by________________.

A. offering a plot

B. describing an interesting scene

C. making comparisons

D. telling a small joke

2.What do we know about German people?

A. They don’t make so much small talk．

B. They hate making small talk．

C. They usually make small talk in work breaks．

D. They are good at making small talk too．

3.What makes people from other countries surprised in American professional culture?

A. American workers’ ability to make progress．

B. American workers’ attitude towards superiors．

C. The special meaning of small talk

D. The role small talk plays in work settings．

4.What does “backfire” underlined in the last paragraph mean?

A. have a warm atmosphere

B. have the opposite effect

C. have a good result

D. have a hard time

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，在美国文化中small talk非常重要，人们经常利用这一沟通技巧与别人建立良好关系，来到美国工作的外国人要形成属于自己的独特的small talk技巧才可以取得成功。

1.写作手法题。作者在1-5段描述了一位德国高级管理人员想与公司里的美国高层进行沟通，但是被另外一个同事利用“small talk”抢走了机会。作者用这个有趣的场景引出文章要讨论的话题：Small talks。故B项正确。

2.推理判断题。根据第四段““So Arnold”, your colleague says to your boss, in such a casual manner that it makes your German soul cringe(畏缩), “So what’s your Super bowl prediction? I mean, you’re a Niners fan, right?””可知德国人在small talk方面并不擅长，所以他才会猥缩，无法和Gree进行交流、由此可以推断德国人并不擅长small talk。故A项正确。

3.细节理解题。根据第五段第二句“People from other countries are often surprised at how important small talk is in the U.S. and how naturally and comfortably people seem to do it ------ with peers, men, women, and even with superiors.”可知来自其他国家的人会惊讶于small talk在美国职场的重要性，美国人非常善于进行small talk。故D项正确。

4.猜测词义题。根据本句“You don’t have to imitate what they do; in fact, that would likely backfire because people would see you as inauthentic(假的,不可信的).”可知当我们学习美国式的small talk时，不要模仿别人的做法，因为那样做可能会有相反的结果，因为别人会认为你不可信。你要形成自己的small talk的风格。所以backfire意为“have the opposite effect”，故B项正确。