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选修
6 Module 1 small talk
1 Do you want to make more friends but
lack the confidence to talk to people you don't
know?
2 And are you nervous about the
idea of being at a social event in another
country?
3 People with good social
skills communicate well and know how to have a
conversation.
4 It helps if you do a
little advance planning.
5 Think of
topics that you would avoid if you were talking to
strangers
—
and avoid talking
about
them!
6
Listening
is
a
skill
which
most
people
lack,
but
communication
is
a
two-way
process
—
it
involves speaking and listening.
7
Show
that
you
are
listening
by
using
encouraging
noises
and
gestures
—
smiling,
nodding,
saying
8
Always
remember
the
words
of
Benjamin
Disraeli,
British
Prime
Minister
in
the
nineteenth
century:
9 If you go to a social occasion in
another country, remember that social rules can be
different.
10 In some countries, for
example, you have to arrive on time at a party; in
other countries, you
don't need to.
11 In addition, you need to know how
long you should stay, and when you have to leave.
12 Some hosts expect flowers or a small
gift, but in other places, you can take things,
but you
needn't if you don't want to.
13 Remember also that in some
countries, you mustn't take flowers of a certain
colour, because
they're unlucky.
14 Her motto was
15 she had never learnt the basic rules
of social communication, and
as a
consequence, she
made systematic
mistakes every time she opened her mouth.
16 One day during a meeting, Esther was
introduced to an important customer, a mature
woman.
17 One of her acquaintances, a
salesman in the firm, was going through a very
messy divorce
and was very depressed.
18 I guess they chose you to discourage
you from spending your whole career with us
19 Once, Esther went to a brunch party
to meet some old school friends on the anniversary
of
their graduation.
20
A
very
important
function of
small
talk
is
to
establish
a
relationship
between people who
don't
know each other very well, or don't know each
other at all.
21 Psychologists say that
the most successful formula for small talk between
people like this is
the AAA model. AAA
= answer, add and ask.
22 Imagine a
situation where two strangers are talking to each
other
after someone they both
know has left the room, or the
café
or party, etc.
23 The
second person replies by answering the question,
adding some extra information and
then asking another question.
24 The speakers may have difficulty at
first, but they soon realise that the important
thing is that
they are saying
something.
25
Because
they
used
this
very
useful
social
technique,
they
found
something
they
have
in
common at
last.
26
I'm
going
to
a
reception
at
the
Chinese
Embassy
here
in
London
and
I'm
really
looking
forward to it.
27 The only problem is that I'm not
very good at small talk with people I don't
know
—
I'm always
worried about saying the wrong thing or
making people feel bored.
28 I need to
know what I can talk about with the Chinese people
that I meet.
29 Here in England, there
are certain questions that you shouldn't really
ask people
that you
don't
know
—
30 In the
USA, conversation is less lively than in many
other cultures, where everyone talks at
the same time.
31
When
someone
talks,
everyone
is
expected
to
listen,
no
matter
how
dull
the
person's
speaking may be.
32 We’re
defined by our jobs
and we're usually happy to talk about them, unless
you're a spy!
33 Some people say that
Americans talk about their feelings more than
Asians, but are more 34
secretive about
factual matters.
35 You can safely ask
questions about families, where you come from,
leisure interests, as well
as the
latest movies.
36 A highly personal
conversation can take place after a very short
period of knowing someone,
but this
doesn't mean that you're close friends, or the
relationship is very deep.
38 But a lot
of people are very friendly and hospitable, and
the famous invitation
in Minneapolis,
do call by and see us!
39
But
while
few
Americans
will
worry
about
the
questions you
may
ask,
particularly
if
you
clearly
show
you're
aware
of
cultural
differences,
they
may
hesitate
before
they
ask
you
similar questions.
40 So, many Americans will talk about
safe topics because they don't dare to be too
curious or
personal, but will happily
talk about more private matters if you take the
lead.
41
Anyway,
Americans
always
want
to
look
younger
than
they
really
are,
so
don't
expect
an
accurate reply!
42 Income is
a very private matter, and you'd do well to avoid
asking how much people earn,
although
some people may not only be open about it, but
show off their wealth.
43 But what we
don't like is silence and almost anything is
better than the embarrassment of a
quiet party and silent
guests.
选修
6
Module 2 The Story of J. K. Rowling and
Harry Potter
1
The
elder
stateswoman
of
British
fantasy
literature
is
J.
K.
Rowling,
the
gifted
creator of Harry
Potter.
2 But the idea for Harry Potter
came to her while she was on a delayed train
between
Manchester and London.
3 She then went to teach English in
Portugal,
where she continued to add
flesh to
the bones of the first Harry
Potter story.
4 But her name is forever
associated with Edinburgh in Scotland, where she
lived
and developed the format for the
whole series of seven books.
5 There are many anecdotes about how,
in 1990, J. K. Rowling began the first draft
of
Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's Stone
.
6 She
spent many hours over a single cup of coffee in a
warm cafeteria in Edinburgh
because she
had no money to pay for the heating at home.
7 She had the extra burden
of looking after her baby daughter while she
worked, and
because she was too poor to
own a typewriter, she wrote by hand.
8
It was only in 1997 that she completed the first
Harry Potter story, which, because
the
publishers in the USA requested an adjustment to
the title,
was also known as
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone
.
9 Rowling
always intended that her output would be a book
every year until she had
finished the
series.
10 Rowling's style has been a
target for some criticism, but
what
makes the books
so
important
is that,
because they
appeal
to
readers
of
all
ages,
they
create a
special literary
bond between parents and children.
11
In an age of computer games and television
programmes, it is also claimed that
they are responsible for a renewed
interest in reading.
12 Harry Potter
has even become part of the school curriculum,
much to the pleasure of
the
schoolchildren.
13
Rowling's books have been translated into more
than 55 languages, and
it has
been estimated that more than 250
million copies have been distributed around
the world.
14
In
2005
it
was
estimated
that
Rowling
had
accumulated
more
than
one
billion
dollars on deposit in her bank.
15 She has thus attained the status of
being the first writer to become a billionaire.
16
One
of
the
greatest
British
writers
of
fantasy
literature
was
C.
S.
Lewis
(1898
—
1963), who
wrote
The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe
.
17
Lucy
discovers
the
winter
land
of
Narnia
where she
and
her
two
brothers and
sister meet the White Witch.
18 They also meet Aslan, the lion, who
is the only one who can defeat the Witch and
restore summer to Narnia.
19
And
then
she
saw
that there
was
a
light
ahead
of
her;
not
a few
inches
away
where the back of the
wardrobe ought to have been, but a long way off.
20
A
moment
later
she
found
that
she
was
standing
in
the
middle
of
a
wood
at
nighttime
with snow under her feet and snowflakes falling
through the air.
21 She looked back
over her shoulder and there, between the dark tree
trunks, she
could still see the open
doorway of the wardrobe and even catch a glimpse
of the
empty room from which she had
set out.
22 He also had a tail,
but Lucy did not notice this at first
because it was so neatly
caught up over the arm that held the
umbrella so as to keep it from trailing in the
snow.
23 He had a strange,
but pleasant little face,
with a short pointed beard and curly
hair, and out of the hair there stuck
two horns, one on each side of his forehead.
24
With
the
parcels
and
the
snow
it
looked
just
as
if
he
had
been
doing
his
Christmas shopping.
25 One
of the most famous fantasy stories of the
twentieth century is the trilogy
The
Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R.
Tolkien.
26 There are also dwarves, who
are similar to small, ugly men and live deep in
the
mountains.
27 In
The Lord of the Rings
, a
wicked wizard called Sauron, who has great magical
powers, has created nine rings.
28
In
the
last
book
of
the
trilogy
there
is
a
terrible
war
between
Sauron
and his
creatures, and those who want to save
Middle Earth.