外研英语选修6课文原文.docx

外研英语选修6课文原文.docx

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外研英语选修6课文原文

外研英语选修6

全部阅读课文原文（每个模块4篇）

Module1SmallTalk

HowGoodAreYourSocialSkills?

Haveyouevercrossedtheroadtoavoidtalkingtosomeoneyourecognize?

Wouldyoulovetogotoapartyandtalkconfidentlytoeveryguest?

Doyouwanttomakemorefriendsbutlacktheconfidencetotalktopeopleyoudon’tknow?

Andareyounervousabouttheideaofbeingatasocialeventinanothercountry?

Don’tworry–wecanhelpyou!

Youneedn’tworryaboutsituationsliketheseifyouhavegoodsocialskills.Andtheyareeasytolearn.Peoplewithgoodsocialskillscommunicatewellandknowhowtohaveaconversation.Ithelpsifyoudoalittleadvanceplanning.

Hereareafewideastohelpyou.

Learnhowtodosmalltalk.

Smalltalkisveryimportantandpreparesyouformoreseriousconversations.Beprepared!

Havesomelow-riskconversationopenersready.Forexample:

Thinkofarecentnewsstory–nottoserious,.astoryaboutafilmstarorsportsstar.

Thinkofthingstotellpeopleaboutyourstudies.

Thinkof“safe”thingsyoucanaskpeople’sopinionsabout–music,sport,films,etc.

Thinkoftopicsthatyouwouldavoidifyouweretalkingtostrangers–andavoidtalkingaboutthem!

Thatway,youdon’tdamageyourconfidence!

Developyourlisteningskills

Listeningisaskillwhichmostpeoplelack,butcommunicationisatwo-wayprocess–itinvolvesspeakingANDlistening.Alwaysremember–youwon’timpresspeopleifyoutalktoomuch.Herearesomeideastomakeyouabetterlistener:

DO

Showthatyouarelisteningbyusingencouragingnoisesandgestures–smiling,nodding,saying“uh-huh”and“OK”,etc.

Keepgoodeyecontact

Usepositivebodylanguage

Askformoreinformationtoshowyourinterest

DON’T

Lookatyourwatch

Yawn

Sign

Lookawayfromthepersonwho’stalkingtoyou

Changethesubject

Finishotherpeople’ssentencesforthem

AlwaysrememberthewordsofBenjaminDisraeli,BritishPrimeMinisterinthe19thcentury:

“Talktoamanabouthimself,andhewillspeaktoyouforhours!

”

Learntherules

Ifyougotoasocialoccasioninanothercountry,rememberthatsocialrulescanbedifferent.Insomecountries,forexample,youhavetoarriveontimeataparty;inothercountries,youdon’tneedto.Inaddition,youneedtoknowhowlongyoushouldstay,andwhenyouhavetoleave.Somehostsexpectflowersorasmallgift,butinotherplaces,youcantakethings,butyouneedn’tifyoudon’twantt.rememberalsothatinsomecountries,youmustn’ttakeflowersofacertaincolour,becausethey’reunlucky.Inmostplaces,youdon’thavetotakeagifttoaparty–butfindourfirst!

TheWrongKindofSmallTalk

EstherGreenbaumwasasaleswomanforafirmoffaxmachinesandbusinesssupplies.Butshewasalsothemostoutspokenhumanbeingintheworld–well,WestchesterCounty,atleast.Hermottowas“EverytimeIopenmymouth,Iputmyfootinit.”

EstherGreenbaum’smajorshortcomingwasthatshehadacompleteabsenceofsmalltalk.No,that’notquitetrue.Shehadsmalltalk,butitwasthewrongkind.Infact,shehadneverlearntthebasicrulesofsocialcommunication,andasaconsequence,shemadesystematicmistakeseverytimesheopenedhermouth.Itwasnocoincidenceeitherthatshewasn’taverygoodsaleswoman.

Onedayduringameeting,Estherwasintroducedtoanimportantcustomer,amaturewoman.

“Nicetomeetyou,”shesaid.“Howoldareyou?

”Thecustomerlookedawkward.

“Forty?

Forty-five?

”saidEsther.“Youkookmucholder.Andyourfriend…she’solderthanyou,butshelooksmuchyounger!

”

Onanotheroccasion,Estherteasedatypist,“Hey!

When’syourbabydue?

”

ThetypistwentredandcontradictedEsther.“Actually,I’mnotpregnant,”shesaid.

“Oh,sorry,”saidEstherwithoutanyapology.“Justputtingonalittleweight,huh?

”

Estherwasnevercautiousaboutotherpeople’sfeelings.Oneofheracquaintances,asalesmaninthefirm,wasgoingthroughaverymessydivorceandwasverydepressed.Shetriedtocheerhimup.

“Forgether!

Shewasacompletefool.Noonelikedheranyway.”

Muchofthetime,Esthersaidthefirstthingtocomeintoherhead.Onedayatwork,aclerkcameintotheofficewithanewhairstyle.

“Nicehaircut,”saidEsther.“Howmuchdiditcost?

”

Thewomanreplied,“I’drathernotsay.”

Estherreplied,“Well,anyhow,eitheryoupaidtoomuchoryoupaidtoolittle.”

Shemetaveryfamouswriteronce.“Hey,whatacoincidence!

”shesaid.“You’rewritingabookandI’mreadingone!

”

ThetroublewithEstherwasshesaidwhatshethought,anddidn’tthinkaboutwhatshesaid.Ayoungmanwastryingtomodestabouthisnewjobmanymilesaway.

“Iguessthecompanychosemesothey’dgetsomepeaceintheoffice,”hesmiled.

“No,Iguesstheychoseyoutodiscourageyoufromspendingyourwholecareerwithus,”Estherrepliedsweetly.

Once,Estherwenttoabrunchpartytomeetsomeoldschoolfriendsontheanniversaryoftheirgraduation.Shegreetedthehostess.

“Doyourememberthatguyyouweredating?

Whathappenedtohim?

”sheasked.“Youknow,theuglyone.”

Atthemoment,amancameupandstoodbyherfriend.“Esther,I’dlikeyoutomeetmyhusband,”shesaid,“Charles,thisis…”

Estherinterruptedher,“Hey,soyoumarriedhim!

”

MakingFriendsintheUSA

IntheUSA,conversationislesslivelythaninmanyothercultures,whereeveryonetalksatthesametime.Whensomeonetalks,everyoneisexpectedtolisten,nomatterhowdulltheperson’sspeakingmaybe.

Ifyou’renotsurewhattotalkabout,youcanaskwhatpeopledo.We’redefinedbyourjobsandwe’reusuallyhappytotalkaboutthem,unlessyou’respy!

SomepeoplesaythatAmericanstalkabouttheirfeelingsmorethanAsians,butaremoresecretiveaboutfactualmatters.Youcansafelyaskquestionsaboutfamilies,whereyoucomefrom,leisureinterests,aswellasthelatestmovies.We’reinterestedinpeople’sethnicbackgroundtoo.Butit’sbesttoavoidpolitics,religionandothersensitivetopics.

Ahighlypersonalconversationcantakeplaceafteraveryshortperiodofknowingsomeone,butthisdoesn’tmeanthatyou’reclosefriends,ortherelationshipisverydeep.Butalotofpeopleareveryfriendlyandhospitable,andthefamousinvitation“Ifyou’reeverinMinneapolis/SanDiego/Poughkeepsie,docallbyandseeus!

”isnevermadewithoutagenuinedesiretomeetagain.

ButwhilefewAmericanswillworryaboutthequestionsyoumayask,particularlyifyouclearlyshowyou’reawareofculturaldifferences,theymayhesitatebeforetheyaskyousimilarquestions.Infact,it’sasignthattheydon’twishtoviolateyourprivatelife.So,manyAmericanswilltalkaboutsafetopicsbecausetheydon’tdaretobetoocuriousorpersonal,butwillhappilytalkaboutmoreprivatemattersifyoutakethelead.

Generallywedislikearguments,andweavoidtopicswhichleadtodisagreement.It’seasytoreturntodiscussingtheweather:

“DoyouliketheUSA?

”Howdoyouliketheweather?

”ormakingcompliments:

”Whatlovelyflowersandwhatabeautifulvase!

”“That’sfabulousdressyou’rewearing.”Youshouldacceptcomplimentsgraciouslyandsay“Thankyou!

”

Thereareacoupleofdangeroustopicsofconversation:

ageandmoney.Ageisnottreatedassomethingveryspecial,unlesssomeoneisveryold:

“Isn’tshewonderfulforherage!

”andtherearenospecialrulesorsignsofextrarespectforelderlypeople.Anyway,Americansalwayswanttolookyoungerthantheyreallyare,sodon’texpectanaccuratereply!

Incomeisaveryprivatematter,andyou’ddowelltoavoidaskinghowmuchpeopleearn,althoughsomepeoplemaynotonlybeopenaboutit,butshowofftheirwealth.Wedon’taskhowmuchthingscost,either.

Butwhatwedon’tlikeissilence,andalmostanythingisbetterthantheembarrassmentforaquietpartyandsilentguests.

TheAAA

Itisestimatedthat80%ofallconversationinEnglishissmalltalk.Averyimportantfunctionofsmalltalkistoestablisharelationshipbetweenpeoplewhodon’tknoweachotherverywell,ordon’tknoweachotheratall.

PsychologistssaythatthemostsuccessfulformulaforsmalltalkbetweenpeoplelikethisistheAAAmodel.AAA=answer,addandask.Thisishowitworks.

Imagineasituationwheretwostrangersaretalkingtoeachotheraftersomeonetheybothknowhaslefttheroom,orthecaféorparty,etc.thefirstpersonasksaquestion:

A:

Doyoulivenearhere?

Thesecondpersonrepliesbyansweringthequestion,addingsomeextrainformationandthenaskinganotherquestion:

B:

（Answer）Yes,Ido.

（Add）InanapartmentonBrownStreet.

（Ask）Doyoulivenearbytoo?

Thefirstpersondoesthesame,answer,addandask:

A:

（Answer）No,IliveinBristol.

（Add）I’mjustvisitingLondon.

（Ask）Haveyoulivedherelong?

B:

（Answer）Notsolong.

（Add）Imovedherethreeyearsago.

（Ask）What’sthepurposeofyouvisittoLondon?

Thespeakersmayhavedifficultyatfirst,buttheysoonrealizethattheimportantthingisthattheyaresayingsomething.BycontinuingwiththeAAAmodel,theconversationcontinues.Becausethethingtheybothwanttoavoidisanembarrassingsilence.

Theconversationcancontinueinthiswayforalongtime.However,somethingcanhappenthatcompletelychangestheatmosphere.

B:

WhydoyouliveinBristol?

A:

I’mstudyingthere.History.Areyouastudent?

B:

Yes.AndIknowsomepeoplewhoarestudyingatBristol.DoyouknowagirlcalledHelenBrown?

A:

HelenBrown?

Yes!

She’sonofmybestfriends!

Howdoyouknowher?

B:

She’smycousin.

Atthispoint,theAAAmodelstops.Becausetheyusedthisveryusefultechnique,theyfoundsomethingtheyhaveincommonatlast.

Module2FantasyLit