You may be able to deliver killer speeches, wonderful presentations and professions and professional talks on topics of your choice. But can you make small talk? There are times in life when you need to make casual conversation. And in business, the social aspect of a business relationship is often as important as the professional one. Here are our top tips for making small talk.
Listen
The number-one rule when making small talk is to listen. Make a conscious effort to remember what the other person is saying. Then you can use this information to generate more conversation.
Interest
While you’re talking to someone, focus exclusively on that person. And use your body language to show that you’re interested: face the person, use eye contact and nod your head at appropriate moments. Also, use conversational fillers such as “ah ha/ really? /amazing!” to show that you’re interested in what they’re saying…even if you aren’t.
Ego check
Try to avoid always turning the attention of the conversation back on yourself. For example, if someone mentions that they’ve just been to Italy, don’t respond with, “Oh, I’ve been there. We went there last year.” Instead, use this information as an opportunity to ask lots of questions about the other person’s trip: where did you go? Who did you go with? What was it like? What did you see?
Watch out!
Avoid saying anything that could be interpreted as criticism or judgment; and above all, keep away from potentially controversial topics such as religion and politics.
Write it down
Write down any interesting stories you hear, or details of funny things that have happened to you. Later, you can use these anecdotes to brighten up a dull conversation.
Think “situation”!
Think carefully about where you are. For example, if you’re at a wedding, think of all the relevant things you could ask: How do you know the bride? How long have you been friends with the groom? How did you get there? Where are you staying? Or, if you’re visiting a new company, you could ask the following: What’s it like working here? How easy is it to get into the city centre? Where’s a good place to get lunch round here? Etc.
Top topics
If you’re ever running out of conversation, use one of these fail-safe conversation topics:
the news, film, football, sport, music, the weather, fashion, literature, cars hobbies, the weekend, videogames, the theatre, family, local topics（shops, clubs, etc.）, TV, celebrities, entertainment, your home town, food, traditions, customs.
Small talk can be a lot of fun, but you need to prepare for it and practice. And remember, small talk can lead to big business!The passage is mainly about_______.
| A．customs and social manners |
| B．casual conversation tricks |
| C．communication types |
| D．business strategies |
When making small talks, you’d better avoid _______.
| A．asking some open questions |
| B．using some body languages |
| C．talking about something that can arouse conflict |
| D．asking some questions relevant to the situation |
In order to make your small talk go smoothly, you can do the following things except that ________.
| A．you can talk some topics about yourself all the time |
| B．you can pay attention to what others are saying and listen carefully |
| C．you can choose a topic that is suitable to everyone |
| D．you can say something funny that you have written down |
When you are attending a party held by your friend, which is the most suitable question to start a conversation with a stranger?
| A．How often do you get to play? |
| B．How old are you? |
| C．What are you doing this weekend? |
| D．How do you know the host, my friend David? |
第二节：（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。
Writer and power chair adventurer Mary Laver has not walked for twenty years. Yet the cheerful and positive 60 year old is not only refusing to let her disability get her down ---- she is also planning to cross the length of Britain in a power wheelchair.
Getting ready for the trip is not easy. She has already run into many problems - not least officials and organizations who view her as a health and safety risk. One police officer wrote to Mary requesting:
1. The proposed route through our area with road numbers.
2. The dates and times each day that this will be taking place.
3. The location details of the proposed overnight stops.
4. The names and mobile phone contact details of the Support Crew.
Another police officer asked her to travel off road! As Mary told me, this was unacceptable - as a power wheelchair user with limited movement she needs to be "gettable".
There are other problems in her way though - she is, after all, in her 60's and has severe rheumatoid arthritis(风湿性关节炎). However, unlike many other people with arthritis, she is no longer in pain.
"When you are in a power chair and it is going at eight miles an hour, believe me it feels fast … to
me it is the Formula One(一级方程式赛车) chair of electric wheelchairs."
At the end of the interview, I asked Mary if she had a message for any other power chair users who wanted to do a challenge, and her reply was simple："Just do it!"
41.What is Mary Laver planning to do？
A. Travel to write a power wheelchair adventure.
B. Travel across Britain in a power wheelchair.
C. Prove she can do what a man can in driving.
D. Try a fast Formula One power chair sport.
42.Why did a police officer write to Mary requesting the four points?
A. He tried to stop her . B. Mary’s adventure is valueless.
C. The power chair is too fast.D. He wanted to ensure her safety.
43.The underlined word “She needs to be gettable” in the passage probably means “_______”
A. She’ll have a try whatever difficulties she may have.
B. A road for a power wheelchair user is a must for her.
C. Mary has to jump off her wheelchair once on the road.
D. With rheumatoid arthritis, she need some field help.
44. When Mary said “Just do it !” at the end of the interview, she meant “_______”
A. Be brave though disabled.B. Fear no challenges at all.
C. Take action right away. D. Make it whoever you are.
第二部分：阅读理解(共25小题；满分45分)
第一节：阅读判断（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）
先阅读短文，然后根据短文的内容判断正误，并将结果转涂到答题卡上。正确的涂A，错误的涂B。
As high school students, Sang Tian and Huang Yunru dreamed of attending one of the world’s top universities. They slaved over their studies and were in the end admitted to famous schools – only one turned out to be far more famous than the other, according to new ranking (排名)of Asia’s top schools.
Huang Yunru, 19, went to the University of Hong Kong, the No 1 school in Asia. Sang, also 19, went to Tsinghua University, which was ranked a disappointing 16th in
Asia. When Sang heard the news, he couldn’t believe his ears. “What? How can it be?” he said, greatly surprised.
The new list of Asia’s top 200 universities was published last month by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a UK-based career and education company. The ranking have started heated discussions among Chinese people, since the mainland’s top two schools – Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University – were not in the top 10.
Actually, this isn’t the first time that the schools have gone on poorly in regional or global ranking. The 2010 world university list released by the magazine US News & World Report ranked Peking University at 50th and Tsinghua University at 56th. They were the only two mainland schools in the top 100. Meanwhile, 37 US universities made the top 100 list. And three of 10 Hong Kong universities made the top 50.Chinese universities’ poor performance has saddened many students. “I can’t understand their standards,” said Sang. “At least we are a university with a long, proud history.”
According to the QS list, Chinese universities are doing OK in academic peer review, with both Tsinghua and Peking University scoring a full 100. But when it comes to student-to-faculty ratio（师生比）, their ranking drops, with Tsinghua at 22th and Peking at 23rd.John Hennessy, president of Stanford University, said at the Fourth Chinese-Foreign University Presidents Forum in early May that a lack of small-group discussions has seriously affected the teaching quality at Chinese universities. This has also resulted in students being afraid to question or challenge teachers.
36. Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University were in the top 10 in the ranking of Asia’s top schools.
37. There were no top 100 universities in the mainland according to the ranking.
38. Hong Kong universities are doing much better than the Chinese mainland ones in the ranking.
39. Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University are so famous that they are not worried about the result at all.
40. One of the reasons for the mainland’s universities’ disappointing ranking is that there are simply not enough teachers for the large number of students.
The spread of worsening international financial crisis has seriously affected world economic growth and stability. The ongoing financial crisis is rarely seen in history. Countries and organizations have taken measures in response, and we hope these measures will produce good results soon. Countries in Asia and Europe are an important force for international financial stability and world economic growth. I suggest that we make greater efforts in the following aspects:
First, countries should run their own affairs well. In the face of the crisis, it is important for leaders to act in the fundamental and long-term interests of the people and use necessary monetary and regulatory tools to regain market confidence as soon as possible and maintain economic growth
Second, set up coordination(调和) and cooperation among governments. The financial departments, central banks and financial regulators around the world should closely follow the development of the crisis and study its trend and impact.
Third, strengthen regional financial dialogue and cooperation. Members of the Eurozone have reached agreement on the basic principles to tackle the financial crisis. We in Asia are also exploring the possibility of expanding the size of bilateral（双边的）currency swap( 互惠外汇信贷)arrangements under the 10+3 framework .
Fourth, push forward the reform of the international monetary and financial systems. The present crisis has exposed the weaknesses in the existing international financial system and governance structure. It is important to do three things in this regard: first, increase the say and representation of developing countries in international financial organizations; second, expand the space of the regulation of the international financial system, and third, establish a reasonable global financial rescue mechanism（机制）.
57. According to the passage, members of the Eurozone reached agreement on
________.
A. how to deal with the financial crisis
B. how to regain market confidence
C. how to maintain economic growth
D. how to study the crisis trend
58. Which word has the same meaning with the underlined word maintain ? 
A. mainly B. keep C. increase D. decrease
59. According to the passage, which of the following sentence is True?
A．Global issues included energy, food, the environment, fashion etc.
B．There was no financial crisis in history.
C．Facing the crisis, the first thing the countries should do is to do their own business well.
D．Asian countries are the most important force for the world economic growth.
60. The passage mainly talks about ___________________.
A．What we should do during the financial crisis.
B．We should draw serious lessons from the financial crisis.
C．Countries and organizations have taken measures in response to the financial crisis.
D．We should set up coordination and cooperation among governments.
Some houses are designed to be smart. Others have smart designs. An example of the second type of house won the Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects.
Located on the shore of Sullivan's Island off the coast of South Carolina, the award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one damaged by Hurricane Hugo years ago. In September 1989, Hugo struck South Carolina, killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36,000 homes in the state.
Before Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina's shoreline were poorly constructed, according to architect Ray Huff, who created the cleverly-designed beach house. Now all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced codes. The new beach house on Sullivan's Island should be strong enough not to be damaged by a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometres per hour. 
At first sight, the house on Sullivan's Island looks anything but(根本不) hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it look like “a large party lantern” at night. But looks can be deceiving. The house's wooden frame is strengthened with long steel rods(杆) to give it extra strength.
To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings(木桩) buried deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also raise the house above storm waves. The pilings allow the waves to run under the house instead of running into it. “The waves of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.
Huff designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed(隐藏) by the house's ground-to-roof shell. “The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn't look like it's standing with its legs pulled up,” said Huff. In the event of storm, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.
53. After Hurricane Hugo, new houses built along South Carolina's shore line are required
to .
A. be easily pulled down B. look smarter in design
C. meet stricter building standards D. be designed to be cube-shaped
54. The award-winning beach house is quite strong because
A. it is strengthened by steel rods B. it is made of redwood
C. it is in the shape of a shell D. it is built with timber and concrete
55. Huff raised the house 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings in order to .
A. avoid peak winds of about 200 km/h
B. bury stronger pilings deep in the sand
C. break huge sea waves into smaller ones
D. prevent the waves from running into it
56. It can be inferred from the passage that the house's shell should be .
A. smooth B. waterproof C. easily broken D. extremely hard
Many people have described television as a passive activity that is harmful to children's education. However, there are good and bad ways to watch television. Parents who are interested in exploiting television as a learning tool can actually turn time in front of TV into an educational chance.
Probably the most familiar educational way to use television is to simply watch educational programs. In particular, this means selecting channels and programs specially designed for educational purposes. Along with traditional educational shows for children on public broadcasting channels, cable television (有线电视) now offers kids and adults a wide variety of educational programs, with everything from nature shows to historical events in different countries. 
Captioning(字幕），such as "closed captioning" for hearing disabled viewers provides another way for parents to exploit the educational possibilities of television．One study showed that children who watched captioned TV got great improvement in their vocabulary and oral reading ability. In addition, parents can make any show a learning class by watching television together with children. By actively joining children in the programs that they are watching, parents can help with the development of such skills as predicting（预见）and summarizing. In order to develop predicting skills, parents and children could first refer to a program’s description in a viewing guide．After reading the program description and guessing what might happen in the program, parents and children could watch together to see which predictions were correct. And to practice summarizing, after watching a program, parents can turn off the TV and ask what the story was about. This kind of activity helps children develop thinking skills such as arranging events in an order and memorizing information．
Although there will still be plenty of times when children watch TV simply for passive enjoyment, parents can help make at least part of their children’s viewing time a more productive activity．Used intelligently by exploiting the learning chances available through various programs, television can play an instructive role in children’s education.
49. Which activity is NOT suggested in the passage？
A. Talking about TV shows. B. Watching captions on TV.
C . Enjoying films about nature. D. Watching shows for homework.
50．Which of the following statements is true according to the passage？
A. Parents can simply make any show a learning class for their children．
B. To make watching TV a more productive activity parents should include themselves in the producing process.
C. Most parents have changed their attitude to their kids’ watching TV and become positive to the problem.
D. In a way, it is how parents act that leads to whether watching TV may do good or not to their children.
51. We can infer from the last paragraph that．
A. not every minute when a child watches television must be educational
B. children should not use television for passive enjoyment
C. some children prefer reading to watching television
D. television offers more learning chances than school
52．Which of the following questions is the major one discussed in the passage? 
A. What makes television more interesting than books?
B. Why should schools put television into classrooms?
C. How can parents use television as a teaching tool？
D. Which program can actually make kids smarter?