Question

  How to say hello in Japanese depends on when you say it. This is very much like different greetings used in English at different times of the day or night. In Japanese culture，it also de?pends on whether you are on the phone or meeting somebody or whether you are close to the person you are greeting. We don't get formal with our close friends. We seldom greet them with "Good morning" or "Good evening". A "Hi" is enough.

  Although the most popular and most well-known translation for "Hello" is still "Konniqi-wa"，it is not exactly how to say hello in Japanese. Perhaps it is not the most suitable word for it. Actually, the correct greeting in English for "Konniqiwa" is "Good day "or "Good noon"， and I am sure you wouldn't like greeting people with a "Good day" at any time,and neither do Japanese like saying "Konniqiwa" when they want to say "Hello".

  So what to do? Let's do it the way the Japanese do. Use "Ohaiyo gonzaimasu" for "Good morning"， "Konniqiwa" when it's noon and "Konbanwa" to greet somebody in the afternoon. Things differ when you are on the phone. Just say "Moshi,moshi"，which is actually similar to saying "Hello" over the phone, because one hardly ever uses "Good morning" or "Good after?noon" or " Good evening" right after picking up the phone. It is invariably the sweet old "Hello".

  Next time,I'll tell something about my life in Japan.

(   ) 1. What is the best title for this passage?

A.     How to Say Hello

B.     How to Greet Close Friends in Japanese

C.     How to Greet People in Japanese

D.     Some Differences between English and Japanese

(   ) 2. Japanese people greet each other by saying "_________________ ”in the afternoon.

A. Moshi, moshi        B. Konniqiwa

C. Ohaiyo gonzaimasu    D. Konbanwa

(   ) 3. In the writer's opinion, .

A.     Japanese culture is similar to American culture

B.     Japanese people don't like using "Konniqiwa" as a greeting for the whole day

C.     people don't need to be polite to their close friends

D.     Japanese people are very friendly to each other

(   ) 4. What does the underlined word "invariably" in the last paragraph mean?
A. Probably. B. Always. C. Sometimes. D. Likely.

Answer 1

1-4 CDBB 

A篇介绍了日本人生活中习惯的打招呼和问候用语。

1. C主旨大意题通读全文可知文章主要是围绕中心句"How to say hello in Japanese de?pends on when you say it."展开的，故选C项作为文章的标题。

2. D细节理解题根据第三段的"and 'Kon-banwa' to greet somebody in the afternoon "可知下午问候别人应该用Konbanwa。

3. B推理判断题根据第二段的"I am sure you wouldn't like greeting people with a ' Good day' at any time,and neither do Japanese like saying ' Konniqiwa' when they want to say 'Hello'."可知作者认为在日本，人们不会喜欢一天到晚用Konniqiwa来跟别人打招呼。

4. B词义猜测题根据第三段的"because one hardly ever uses ' Good morning ' or ' Good afternoon' or ' Good evening，right after pick?ing up the phone."可知人们拿起电话的时候，通常不会分早、中、晚问候，只是说"Moshi,moshi",由此可推断作者是想表达接电话时总还是会用"Hello"。