题目内容
Silence is unnatural to man．He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness．In between he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and he 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 a number of pauses occur in the conversation, he regards himself 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（蜡塑人像）.
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.
【小题1】According to the passage, people usually talk to their neighbors_____.
| A．in the hope of learning something new |
| B．in the hope of getting on well |
| C．about whatever they want to |
| D．about whatever they have prepared |
| A．achieve success in life |
| B．overcome their fear of silence |
| C．exchange ideas |
| D．prove their value |
| A．To persuade people to stop making noises． |
| B．To explain why people keep talking． |
| C．To discuss why people like talking about weather． |
| D．To encourage people to join in conversations． |
| A．the voice of a chatterbox |
| B．meaningless talk sound |
| C．a low whispering |
| D．the noise of an insect |
【小题1】C
【小题2】B
【小题3】B
【小题4】B
解析试题分析：本文的作者了解释人们为什么会交谈。大多数的交谈是害怕沉默而进行的毫无意义的交谈
【小题1】推理题：从第三段的句子：Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new.可知和邻居的谈话是无所不谈。选C
【小题2】细节题：从第一段的句子：Even his conversation is an attempt to prevent a fearful silence．可知人们的交谈是害怕沉默。选B
【小题3】主旨题：从第二段的句子：The aim of conversation is not, for the most part, to communicate ideas; it is to keep up the buzzing sound.可知作者是解释人们为什么会交谈。选B
【小题4】猜词题：从前面的句子：He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than 可知the buzzing of a fly是指毫无意义的交谈。选B
考点：考查社会现象类短文
点评：本文的作者了解释人们为什么会交谈。这篇文章要先看问题，再带着问题仔细阅读短文，理解了全文内容，很容易选出正确答案。阅读短文时，常常会遇到一些生词。这时，要沉着，冷静，细心思考。首先要把整段、整篇文章看完。猜词题主要通过对全篇短文的理解，和单词所在句子的前后的暗示，就很有可能猜测出生词的大意。
