“You speak very good English”

The other day I heard an American say to a Chinese student of English. “You  41  very good English.” But the student answered, “ No, my English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite

  42  at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself  43  or the student had not heard him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak it very well.” But the Chinese student still  44  saying  “No”.  45  the foreigner gave up and didn’t know what to say.

What’s wrong with the student’s answer? It is because he didn’t accept a compliment as the American people  46  . He should have said “Thank you” instead of “No”. He actually understood what the American had said. But he thought he should be modest. If someone says to a woman, “ You look  47  beautiful with the new clothes  48  .” she should be very happy and answer, “Thank you.” In our country we think  49  modest is a virtue and showing off is a bad behavior. But in the West, if you are modest and say, “ No,   50  I can’t do it well,” then the others will take it for granted (理所当然)that you  51  can not do it. If you often say,“No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by  52  . When  53  for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “ Let me have a try on the job”, he or she can expect to get it. So in the West, one should always be confident.  54  self-confidence, he can’t go anywhere. Confidence is of great  55  to one in a country where competition is quite keen.(激烈)

1.A. say     B. talk        C. speak    D. tell

2.A. surprising  B. surprised       C. laughed         D. laughing

3.A. understood        B. understand   C. to understand        D. understanding

4.A. keep  B. keeping         C. keeps    D. kept

5.A. At first        B. By the way    C. In the end     D. First of all

6.A. did     B. done     C. to do     D. do

7.A. such  B. such a   C. so D. so a

8.A. for     B. on          C. in  D. into

9.A. being B. be          C. having   D. have

10.A. I’m afraid B. I’m not sure  C. I don’t mind  D. I don’t know

11.A. hardly      B. really    C. badly     D. luckily

12.A. another   B. other    C. the other       D. others

13.A. asking       B. ask         C. provide          D. providing

14.A. With         B. Without         C. by D. under

15.A. importantly      B. unimportant C. important      D. importance

If you go to Singapore, you have to learn to speak _______ and __________.