Question

 

     Silence is unnatural to man. He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness. In between be does all he can to make a noise in the world, and be 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 is number of pauses occur in the conversation, he regards him- self 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（蠟塑人像）.

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 author, people make conversation to               .

A. exchange ideas

B. prove their value

C. achieve success in life

D. overcome their fear of silence

2.By “the buzzing of a fly”(Para.1),the author means “              ”.

A. the noise of an insect

B. a low whispering sound

C. meaningless talks

D. the voice of a chatterbox

3.According to the passage, people usually talk to their neighbors          .

A. about whatever they have prepared

B. about whatever they want do

C. in the hope of learning something new

D. in the hope of getting on well

4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A. To discuss why people like talking about weather.

B. To encourage people to join in conversations.

C. To persuade people to stop making noises.

D. To explain why people keep talking.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.D

【解析】：文章開始即表明了人類最怕的是silence,即使談話也是為了克服silence而導致的恐懼。容易只憑感覺選B項，這在文章中找不出依據的。

【考點】：細節理解題。

2.C

【解析】：根據日常知識，大多數talking 沒有什么特別意義。

【考點】：考查短語在具體語境中的含義

3.B

【解析】：本題容易選D。而D項說明人們與鄰居交流有一定目的性，事實上根據第二段最后一句話，表面與鄰居交流可以談任何想談的內容，不必等到你有一wise thought才開口。

【考點】：推理判斷題。

4.D

【解析】：本題需要對文章三段加以綜合概括，尤其是第二段首句，表面作者寫本文的真實意圖是解釋人們為何不停的talking.

【考點】：判斷作者的寫作意圖。